According to regulatory filings, the IT services affiliate of South Korea's LG Group earned an operating profit of 138.2 billion won ($103.1 million) in the July-September quarter, up from 120.2 billion won a year earlier.
Its operating margin rose to 8.3 percent from 7.9 percent.
Revenue increased 9.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.66 trillion won. Net profit fell 21.1 percent to 83 billion won, while net profit attributable to parent-company shareholders dropped 21.4 percent to 82.4 billion won.
Revenue in the AI and cloud division, its largest business, rose 9.3 percent to 961.5 billion won. LG CNS said colocation revenue grew at the AI data centers it builds and runs for clients, including its Samsong AI data center near Seoul.
Colocation revenue is the money clients pay to rent server space and power.
Corporate clients also made more use of global generative AI services such as ChatGPT Enterprise and Anthropic's Claude through LG CNS. The company said it became the first Korean firm to reach the Preferred tier of Anthropic's Claude Partner Network.
Revenue in the digital business services division jumped 21.3 percent to 408.2 billion won. Next-generation core banking system projects for NH NongHyup Bank, Mirae Asset Life Insurance and KB Kookmin Bank moved into full development and began adding revenue.
Revenue in the smart engineering division, which builds automated factories and logistics systems, edged down to 294.5 billion won. The company blamed the decline on slower activity in manufacturing.
LG CNS said it bought about 380 billion won worth of equipment to secure graphics processing units for its AI factory business, which builds and runs the computing infrastructure used to develop and operate AI.
It has also begun co-investing in enterprise software and AI businesses with US investment firm General Atlantic.
The company said it would build its AI business on two fronts, the first being agentic AI services, which carry out work on their own.
The second is the infrastructure that supports them.
LG CNS also plans to turn more of its robot pilot projects in logistics and manufacturing into full contracts using PhysicalWorks, its platform for training and running robots.
Shares of LG CNS traded at 73,200 won at 9:56 a.m., down 5.31 percent from the previous session.
AJP Takeaways
- LG CNS reported a preliminary third-quarter 2026 operating profit of 138.2 billion won on Oct. 30, 2026, up 15 percent from 120.2 billion won a year earlier, on revenue of 1.66 trillion won, up 9.3 percent.
- Net profit fell 21.1 percent from a year earlier to 83 billion won, and net profit attributable to parent-company shareholders fell 21.4 percent to 82.4 billion won.
- Revenue from digital business services, which includes core banking system overhauls, rose 21.3 percent to 408.2 billion won, and AI and cloud revenue rose 9.3 percent to 961.5 billion won.
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