[Market Focus] "Q4 Earnings Shock" LG Household & Health Care Drops 4.73%

The stock price of LG Household & Health Care is on a downward trend after reporting fourth-quarter results last year that fell short of market expectations.

As of 9:34 a.m. on January 29, LG Household & Health Care was trading at 262,000 won, down 13,000 won (-4.73%) from the previous trading day.

In the fourth quarter of last year, on a consolidated basis, LG Household & Health Care posted sales of 1.4728 trillion won (an 8.5% decrease from the same period a year earlier) and an operating loss of 72.7 billion won, turning to a deficit. The company incurred approximately 85 billion won in costs related to business efficiency improvements, and about 186 billion won in asset impairment charges related to overseas subsidiaries were reflected.

On this day, Hyundai Motor Securities maintained a neutral investment opinion on LG Household & Health Care and lowered its target price from 280,000 won to 240,000 won. Ha Heeji, a researcher at Hyundai Motor Securities, said, "We have lowered our earnings estimates for this year and next year," adding, "Intensive efforts to improve the fundamentals of the beauty business in order to rebuild the growth base are ongoing."

She further stated, "We expect that work such as improving the efficiency of traditional (offline) channels and the Chinese subsidiary, as well as expanding marketing expenses for key North American brands, will continue for some time," and added, "We will maintain a conservative outlook for the time being."