LG CNS reported increases in both revenue and operating profit for the third quarter of this year, driven by growth in its artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud businesses, as well as the expansion of next-generation systems in the financial sector. The demand for AI transformation (AX) from external clients has risen, and revenue from large-scale financial projects has begun to materialize.
On October 30, LG CNS announced that it achieved third-quarter revenue of 1.66 trillion won and an operating profit of 138.2 billion won. This represents a 9.3% increase in revenue and a 15.0% increase in operating profit compared to the same period last year.
An LG CNS official stated, "The solid growth in our core businesses of AI and cloud, along with the expansion of revenue from next-generation financial projects, has driven our third-quarter performance."
In the AI and cloud sector, third-quarter revenue reached 961.5 billion won, marking a 9.3% increase year-on-year. Notably, revenue from the AI infrastructure business, including the construction and operation of the Samsung AI Data Center and co-location services at AI data centers operated by LG CNS, has increased.
Recently, the company showcased its pre-manufactured modular data center 'AI HAUS' and NVIDIA's 'Vera Rubin' based GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) at a global data center event held in Singapore.
With the growth of AI transformation (AX) projects for external clients, cloud revenue has also risen. The company is expanding its business with enterprise clients using global generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT Enterprise and Claude, with applications spreading across various sectors including finance, gaming, aviation, and manufacturing. This includes establishing AI transformation master plans for airports, developing AI platforms for drug discovery, and creating AI agents for health screenings.
Revenue from the digital business services sector increased by 21.3% year-on-year to 408.2 billion won, driven by the acceleration of revenue recognition from next-generation financial projects. Major projects for NH Nonghyup Bank, Mirae Asset Life Insurance, and KB Kookmin Bank have entered the development phase, contributing to revenue growth.
New contracts, such as the modernization project for the Saemaul Geumgo account system, are underway, along with system integration (SI) and system management (SM) projects for public sector clients like the Korea Securities Depository and the Ministry of Justice.
In the smart engineering sector, third-quarter revenue was 294.5 billion won, showing a slight decline year-on-year due to a slowdown in the manufacturing industry. An LG CNS official explained, "We have secured customer references in industries such as defense, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and batteries for our smart factory business, while expanding logistics automation projects for domestic companies operating overseas in our smart logistics sector."
To meet the surging demand for AI, LG CNS plans to enhance its competitiveness in AI services and infrastructure, focusing on the development of agentic AI services that autonomously perform tasks across various operations. The company aims to diversify its business portfolio based on AI investments.
LG CNS is also increasing its AI investments. The company has acquired approximately 380 billion won worth of tangible assets to secure graphics processing units (GPUs) necessary for building and operating its AI factory. Additionally, it has begun joint investments in enterprise software and AI businesses with General Atlantic, a leading global investment firm.
The robotics transformation (RX) business is conducting proof of concept (PoC) projects based on the PhysicalWorks platform for logistics and manufacturing sites, transitioning these into full-scale operations to expand contracts. Discussions are ongoing with both domestic and international clients to broaden service areas such as patrolling, customer service, and safety. The company also plans to strengthen partnerships with global tech giants like NVIDIA, Microsoft, and AWS, as well as with physical AI firms and robotics manufacturers.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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