Are LG Group’s cash cows changing for good?

Chemicals affiliates overtaking electronics units

By Kim Yoo-chul

LG Group's cash cows are changing, although it is still a tossup whether the change will be permanent or a temporary blip.

LG Electronics, the erstwhile flagship, is on a decline, while LG Chem is moving up.

The combined operating profit of listed LG Group affiliates was 2.06 trillion won for the second quarter of 2010 ― a decrease by 16.7 percent from a year earlier.

The result was mostly due to poor quarterly performances at LG Electronics. The operating profit for the group's electronics-making unit in the second quarter was