INSTANT VIEW - LG Q1 profit down but beats forecasts

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's LG Electronics (066570.KS) reported on Tuesday a 25 percent drop in first-quarter operating profit as electronics demand slumped and margins weakened in its key mobile phone and appliance businesses.

LG, the world's No. 3 mobile phone maker, posted a 456 billion won (231.6 million pound) global-basis operating profit for the quarter to March 31, beating a 307.4 billion won average profit forecast from nine analysts polled by Reuters.

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Following are some reactions from fund managers and analysts:

LEE SUNG-JOON, ANALYST, SK SECURITIES

"The results are a bit better than what the market had expected. LG's mobile phone division showed strong profit, especially in China and North America. Instead of selling more in terms of quantity, LG sold more expensive phones."

"As for flat-screen TVs, it's a positive sign that the division has turned to a profit, but this is largely due to a weaker won that made LG TVs more price competitive."

"LG did exceptionally well last year so it would be hard to see a recovery on a yearly basis, but figures have been improving since the fourth quarter last year, which is viewed as the bottom. LG is also going to restructure its PDP division, which is posting losses, so the forecast for the rest of the year is not bad at all."

STEVE LEE, GOODMORNING SHINHAN SECURITIES

"Relative weakness in the won helped boost the price competitiveness of LG Elec's products. It's also been steadily increasing its market share, and this comes as a positive sign for its growth."

"Its handset and household appliance businesses will probably help the company's earnings the most for the rest of this year, though it remains to be seen when the economy is going to turn around."

CHUNG SUNG-HO, ANALYST, KB INVESTMENT & SECURITIES

"The results are much better than expected, and its strong line-up in cellphones, home appliances and TVs appears to have helped it gain market share against rivals and outperform in a tough global economic environment.

"A weaker won has also helped it boost sales and LG is likely to continue to perform well this year."

(Reporting by Miyoung Kim, Jungyoun Park and Angela Moon; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)