LG Chem said Wednesday it posted about 5.99 trillion won ($5.24 billion) in sales and 503 billion won in operating profit in the second quarter, both boosted by increased sales in its information and electronic material and battery units.

In its quarterly regulatory filing, the company said that its sales and operating profit from April to June went up 4.2 percent and 9.5 percent compared to the previous quarter. Its net profit, however, decreased 1.8 percent to 373.9 billion won.

The information and electronic material unit recorded 864.4 billion won in sales and 129.1 billion won in operating profit, both up 13.6 percent and 67.2 percent, respectively, from the previous quarter.

The surging demand for films for flat-screen and 3-D film-patterned televisions in line with the industrial peak season was the biggest contributor for the unit, its officials said.

The battery sector also reached 677.2 billion won in sales and 30.7 billion won in operating profit, increasing 20.4 percent and 127.4 percent compared to the first quarter, respectively.

The gain was due to the expanded sales of batteries for laptop PCs and those designed for electricity cars of carmakers GM and Renault Samsung, said LG Chem officials.

Its petrochemical unit saw a slight increase ― 0.7 percent ― in sales but its operating profit dropped 6.9 percent from the first quarter, it said.

“The firm’s profit figures are expected to rise in the next quarter with the recovery of global industrial demand, which leads to higher prices for our products and lower raw material costs,” its officials said. “We also will expand the customer base for high-value items like 3-D FPRs and polymer batteries to drive up profit figures in the third quarter.”

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)