LG Electronics sinks to loss on EU fine

(AP) LG Electronics sinks to loss on EU fine
SEOUL, South Korea
LG Electronics Inc. has reported its first quarterly loss in a year after Europe slapped it with a massive fine for price fixing.

The South Korean consumer electronics maker said Wednesday its net loss totaled 468 billion won ($429 million) for the last quarter of 2012. The European Union fined it 491.6 million euros last month for rigging prices of cathode-ray tubes for years. LG said it would appeal.

Operating profit rose 25 percent over a year earlier to 107.2 billion won. Revenue fell slightly to 13.5 trillion won.

Most of LG’s profit came from its mobile division that posted record-high smartphone shipments and from its home appliance division.

LG said its smartphone shipments jumped 56 percent over a year earlier to 8.6 million in the quarter.