A lot of visitors look at smart energy solutions on display at LSIS’s pavilion at an exhibition fair at Hannover Messe, Germany, on April 24. (Photo: LSIS)

Despite the strong won, LSIS chalked up its largest-ever 1st quarter operating profit on the back of even growth in all business areas.
LSIS logged 591.6 billion won in sales, 55.4 billion won in operating profit, and 42.8 billion won in net profit in the first quarter of the year. The figures represent a 6 percent rise in sales, a 55 percent jump in operating profit, and a 122 percent jump in net profit compared to the same period of last year.
LSIS’s posting of 55.4 billion won in operating profit is the best-ever first-quarter showing since 2003 when LS Goup was disassociated from LG Group. Despite uncertainties, coupled with the global economic slump and the strong won, LSIS’s mainstay businesses power and automation made a strong showing, and the company saw the smart energy business dramatically reduce losses.
The power system business saw sales make a big jump, riding on the continued investments into the domestic display sector, while high voltage transformers and high voltage direct current and gas insulated switchgear sales. The automation gadget sector saw sales surge thanks to a rising demand in semiconductor and water treatment markets, while the sector also saw overseas revenues rise following a strong showing in Europe and North Americas.
Amid a rise in sales in all sectors, the smart energy sector decline in overall losses, particularly the automotive electromechanical parts sector turning around to a profit.
Despite such lingering uncertainties as a decline in IT investments and foreign exchange fluctuations, LSIS plans to maintain the growth momentum of the first quarter to the second quarter by improving profitability in the smart energy business and overseas operations and expanding the Korean and foreign equipment businesses.
Even though investments into the IT markets, which greatly contributed to the company’s improving business performances in 2017, are expected to slow down in the second quarter, LSIS plans to overcome difficulties by expanding sales in direct current power systems related to new and renewal energy resources with a competitive edge, an LSIS official said.
Domestic machinery equipment of the automation business and water treatment markets are expected to pick up sales in such Southeast Asian markets as Vietnam and Indonesia.

LSIS Steps on Gas to Commercialize New Energy Industries
LSIS Chairman Koo Ja-kyun stressed that the winds of the 4th Industrial Revolution, breaking barriers among industries and pursuing super convergence and super intelligent technology revolution, will serve as a crisis and an opportunity. He also emphasized that LSIS needs to secure core technology in convergence solutions and create a smart business environment to cope with the advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
LSIS is accelerating efforts to explore new growth engines with a focus on new energy industries, including manufacturing innovation whose representative one was related to smart factory, energy storage systems, micro grid and energy management systems (EMS). In 2015, LSIS declared the new vision “Futuring Energy Smart Energy. The company is expanding businesses suiting the trends of the 4th Industrial Revolution smart and connectivity.
LSIS is aggressively working on “smartization,” combining proprietary technologies of the conventional power and automation sectors and ICT. The company has been already making all-out efforts to develop smart grid technology combining power and IT.
LSIS is leading new energy industries related to manufacturing innovation by commercializing smart factory solutions through combination of automation and IoT.