LG Electronics logged a record-high operating profit in 2020, surpassing 3 trillion won ($2.75 billion) for the first time in its history, the company said in its regulatory filing Friday.

Its operating profit for the whole of last year has been estimated at 3.19 trillion won, breaking the previous record of 2.7 trillion won in 2018.

Compared with a year earlier, the 2020 figure was an increase of 31 percent, the regulatory filing showed.

The South Korean electronics maker’s gross annual sales last year also reached 63.2 trillion won, up 1.5 percent on-year.

A strong performance in the last quarter of the year drove the gains.

In the September-December period, its operating profit surged by 535.6 percent on-year to reach 647 billion won, while its revenue grew 16.9 percent to 18.7 trillion won, also hitting the highest quarterly figure.

LG Electronics’ Q4 performance exceeded market expectations. Market experts had predicted the company’s revenue and operating profit to be around 17.8 trillion won and 626.3 billion won, respectively.

Improved sales of home appliances via online shopping venues supported the company to post improved earnings, according to the industry sources. Improvements to the company‘s mobile device business also helped, they added.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)