LG Chem said Tuesday it posted 22.68 trillion won ($20.17 billion) in sales and 2.84 trillion won in operating profit last year, with its yearly sales figure recording more than 20 trillion won for the first time.

The 2011 sales figure is a 16.5 percent jump from the previous year and the operating profit is also a slight increase of 0.7 percent from the same period.

The company, however, said in a regulatory filing that its total sales and operating profit figures for the final quarter of last year reached 5.6 trillion won and 506.7 billion won, respectively, which is an increase of 12.1 percent in sales but a drop of 9.9 percent in operating profit compared to the fourth quarter of 2010.

“Despite the global economic slowdown and the industrial downturns, we were able to break the top record in sales due to profits earned in the petrochemical sector,” said an LG Chem official.

“Profit somewhat decreased in the information and electronic material area, but we believe we put up a good defense considering that the overall industry, including liquid-crystal displays, was on the downside.” The firm also said that it aims to record 24.55 trillion won in sales for this year ― up 8.2 percent from last year ― and it will inject 2.55 trillion won facility investment, an increase of 9.9 percent from 2011.

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