LG Electronics (News - Alert) saw second-quarter net profits drop as the company’s sales also declined, according to media reports.

The Associated Press reported that LG saw 108.4 billion won ($103.3 million) in the quarter which ended on June 30. That is an 87.3 percent decrease from the amount of net profit the company saw in the same time period in 2010, The AP said.

LG has been trying to turn around its mobile phone business, The AP adds. It is ranked third in mobile phones, after Nokia and Samsung (News - Alert). LG is number 2 in flat screen TVs behind Samsung.

Sales of mobile phones at LG during the recent quarter dropped 4.6 percent compared to the same period last year. LG sold 24.8 million mobile phones in the second quarter, compared to 24.5 million phones in the first quarter, The AP said.

In addition, LG sold over 10 million Optimus smartphones in the first half of 2011, The AP adds.

LG’s mobile-phone division saw a loss of 53.9 billion won ($51 million) in second quarter, according to Bloomberg News. Analysts had predicted a loss of 80.2 billion won during the quarter, Bloomberg (News - Alert) adds.

That positive news led to LG shares increasing, Bloomberg said.

“Their losses from mobile phones continue to narrow,” Kwon Sung Ryul, an analyst at Dongbu Securities Co. in Seoul, told Bloomberg News. “We’re paying attention to the structural change in their smartphone business.”

LG’s TV business is also heading in a better direction.

“We expect profitability of our television business to improve next quarter but overall sales and profits will likely decrease as we reduce shipments of lower-end phones to focus more on the high-end,” LG’s chief financial officer David Jung was quoted by The AP.

In a related matter, Samsung sold over 5 million units of the Galaxy S II, a new smartphone which went on sale in April, according to The AP.

In its review of the second quarter, The Korea Herald reported that LG saw its second consecutive quarter of profits.

LG Electronics said its operating profit increased 25 percent during the second quarter compared to the same quarter in 2010, according to a report carried on TMCnet.

“Our second quarter results were on par with market forecasts, and we believe overall, considering the market conditions, we fared well,” Oh Sea-chun, an LG spokesman, was quoted by The Korea Herald.

The company says it saw a “turnaround in net profit” during the second quarter which “reflected steady improvements in its businesses and successful cost-reduction efforts,” according to a company statement.

LG wants to sell as many as 24 million smartphones during 2011, according to The Korea Herald.

In addition, LG predicts “modest growth” during the third quarter of 2011 (compared to the third quarter of 2010), according to the company statement.

The company notes how it will soon have “new product launches” and marketing for its 3D products.

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