Battery firm LG Energy Solution Q3 profit rises 40% on increased US output

By Heekyong Yang and Joyce Lee

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean battery firm LG Energy Solution (LGES) on Wednesday posted a 40% rise in quarterly profit, helped by increased output from its U.S. joint venture factory with General Motors (NYSE:).

The company, which supplies Tesla (NASDAQ:), GM and other automakers, reported an operating profit of 731 billion won ($543.46 million) for the July-September period, up from 522 billion won a year earlier.

That was in line with the company’s estimate of 731 billion won provided this month and above a 659 billion won average forecast by LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.

The company’s shares were down 3.7% in morning trade, versus the benchmark ‘s 0.2% fall.

September quarter revenue rose 7.5% to 8.2 trillion won, LGES said in a regulatory filing.

LGES has benefited this year from U.S. tax credits for electric vehicles under the Inflation Reduction Act, and the production ramp-up at its battery plant joint venture with GM, analysts said.

However, GM said on Tuesday that it was slowing the launch of several EV models to cut costs and pulling back on EV product spending to put profits ahead of sales targets.

($1 = 1,345.0800 won)