While Korea's LG Electronics Inc. posted first-quarter sales of 5.4 trillion won, declining 1.3 percent year-on-year, it still outperformed its U.S. counterpart Whirlpool Corp., who registered $4.3 billion.
First-quarter operating profit for LG Electronics was even better, amounting to 753.5 billion won ($618 million), surging 21.1 percent from last year, as Whirlpool Corp had US$260 million.
LG attributed its superior performance to the robust sales of its premium home appliance division.
The South Korean firm has been topping Whirlpool in operating profits since 2017, but they were neck and neck in sales in the past years.
Whirlpool outsold LG Electronics by 2 trillion won in 2019 and by 7 trillion-won in 2016.
With the dollar maintaining its strength against the Korean won, foreign-exchange losses are also expected for LG Electronics.
