23rd LG Electronics Shareholders' Meeting Held
Focusing Capabilities on B2B, Expanding Circular Model
Exploring Asia, Latin America, Middle East & Africa
LG Electronics plans to expand the proportion of its 'qualitative growth' sector to over 50% by 2030. Alongside this, the company will focus its capabilities on B2B, expand its circular model business, and secure structural soundness. It will also concentrate on discovering emerging markets such as Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.
On the 25th, LG Electronics held its 23rd regular shareholders' meeting at the LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Seoul. Following last year, LG Electronics opened the shareholders' meeting venue to all stakeholders, including shareholders, this year as well. The company disclosed communication with shareholders on key agenda approval processes and strategic directions of major businesses.
In addition to CEO Cho Joo-wan, the company's top executives including Ryu Jae-chul, Head of the HS Business Division; Park Hyung-se, Head of the MS Business Division; Eun Seok-hyun, Head of the VS Business Division; Lee Jae-sung, Head of the ES Business Division; Kim Chang-tae, Chief Financial Officer (CFO); Lee Sam-su, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO); and Kim Byung-hoon, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) all attended. This was to demonstrate the management's commitment to responsible governance by actively communicating with shareholders.
As last year, online broadcasting was provided for shareholders who found it difficult to attend in person, and this year, simultaneous English interpretation services were introduced considering the interest of overseas investors.
Cho Ju-wan, CEO of LG Electronics, is explaining management performance and mid-to-long-term business strategy directions to shareholders at the 23rd regular general meeting of shareholders held on the 25th at LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by LG Electronics
Before approving the agenda, Chairman and CEO Cho explained last year's management performance and this year's business direction to the shareholders. CEO Cho said, "Last year's solid management performance, including record-high sales, was greatly contributed by ▲business-to-business (B2B), ▲intangible (Non-HW) sectors including home appliance subscriptions and the webOS platform business, and ▲direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels under 'qualitative growth.' The share of the qualitative growth sector in total sales was 42% last year, up 13 percentage points compared to 2021, three years ago, and its share of operating profit reached 71%."
LG Electronics announced plans to expand the proportion of the qualitative growth sector to over 50% by 2030. The company intends to focus its capabilities on B2B, which has low demand and price volatility and scalability based on customer relationships, expand the circular model Non-HW business that continuously generates profits, and secure structural soundness of its business.
CEO Cho also introduced the overall business operation direction. The core idea is to continue efforts to advance the business portfolio while securing growth opportunities in regions with high potential in response to geopolitical changes.
CEO Cho stated, "We plan to maintain the overall policy of maximizing growth in existing businesses to secure future growth resources, expanding from the existing home-centered business to B2B areas such as mobility and commercial sectors, platformizing numerous devices, and expanding service businesses (Non-HW businesses) based on this." He added, "Starting this year, we will add 'region' as a strategic axis to the existing growth strategy and accelerate growth in promising regions with high growth potential."
LG Electronics will focus on discovering growth potential and business opportunities in emerging markets represented by the 'Global South,' including Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. The company will drive growth by concentrating on regions such as the Middle East, where many IT companies gather, and Asia, where AI data centers are expanding.
India is also a representative region of the Global South. Based on the local business infrastructure built over the past 28 years, LG Electronics plans to expand its business scope by promoting India-specific lineups and strengthening production, service, and research & development (R&D) infrastructure.
Following this, the heads of each business division also explained their strategic tasks in line with the overall corporate strategy to the shareholders.
The HS Business Division will expand its B2B areas such as built-in appliances and components based on its world-class home appliance business competitiveness. The subscription business combining products and services will be actively expanded overseas, and the AI home solutions business will be driven forward.
The MS Business Division oversees display-based businesses such as TVs, signage, and monitors, strengthening synergies and expanding the media entertainment platform business centered on webOS. The VS Business Division focuses on transitioning to SDV (software-defined vehicles) while concentrating on sound business operations based on profitability.
The newly established ES (Eco Solution) Business Division plans to accelerate growth in the home and commercial air conditioning sectors and focus its capabilities on securing industrial heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) business opportunities such as AI data centers and nuclear power plants, aiming to grow as a core pillar of the company's B2B business.
Meanwhile, the agenda items of this shareholders' meeting, including approval of financial statements, approval of amendments to the articles of incorporation, appointment of directors, appointment of audit committee members, and approval of director remuneration limits, were approved as proposed.
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