Seoul, April 5 (IANS): LG Electronics said on Friday that its operating profit for the first quarter of this year fell more than 10 per cent from a year earlier, due to rising costs and intensifying competition.

Its first-quarter operating profit came to 1.33 trillion won ($984.9 million), down 11 per cent from 1.5 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales increased 3.3 per cent on-year to 21.09 trillion won, marking the highest for any first-quarter results. The company did not provide the data for net income.

The operating profit was in line with the average estimate, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

LG Electronics said the first-quarter operating profit fell due to higher material costs and increased market competition, but it exceeded 1 trillion won for the fifth consecutive year since the first quarter of 2020.

South Korea's home appliance giant said it has introduced new business methods, such as subscriptions, and expanded its business-to-business models, regarded as one of its key future growth drivers, to overcome uncertainties, such as the delayed recovery in market demand.

The company said it has benefited from diversifying its home appliance product lineups to strengthen its overall sales, while its premium OLED TVs have also contributed to the strong sales for the January-March period.

LG Electronics will release its final first-quarter earnings report later this month, with detailed numbers for each business.