LG Group, the nation’s fourth-largest business conglomerate by assets, is cutting a fine figure in business circles as its major affiliates reaped huge profits despite the protracted global economic slowdown.

Market analysts said the strong performance of some LG affiliates was the result of group chairman Koo Bon-moo’s repeated calls for “action” by executives and employees.

LG Electronics Inc., the flagship of the group and the nation’s leading home appliance- and smartphone-maker, said its net profit more than doubled in 2014 from a year earlier. 

According to its regulatory filing Wednesday, net income reached 501.3 billion won ($462 million), compared with 222.7 billion won a year earlier.

In particular, component-makers under LG Group were also becoming its “cash cows.”

LG Display, the world’s top maker of liquid-crystal displays, posted its highest profit in four years in 2014 due to rising sales of parts for television sets. The release of Apple’s new iPhone 6 series last year also lifted the firms’ component sales.

The display-maker’s sales dropped 2.1 percent to 26.4 trillion won ($24.3 billion) last year, but its operating profit soared 16.7 percent on-year to 1.35 trillion won last year.

“In 2014, the company stood ahead of LG Chem, one of the top two LG Group affiliates along with LG Electronics, both in sales and profitability,’’ an industry watcher said. 

“LG Display, which successfully shifted to high value-added components businesses like ultrahigh-definition television panels, is a rising star among LG Group affiliates,’’ said Eu Kyu-jin, a IBK Securities stock analyst.

LG Innotek is another component-making affiliate of LG Group that performed better than expected.

The operating profit of the world’s largest smartphone camera module-maker skyrocketed 130.6 percent to 314 billion won in 2014 from the previous year. The firm’s sales stood at 6.46 trillion won last year, up 4.1 percent on-year.

The parts-maker generated half of its sales from the smartphone camera module business, whose major clients are LG Electronics and Apple.

Industry watchers projected a rosy outlook for LG Innotek, which is eyeing the lucrative car module market as a new growth engine.

The company has already rolled out front-view camera modules and has a plan to release next-generation automotive camera modules for such products as around-view cameras. “Components-makers will continue to lift the overall performance of LG Group this year, while LG Electronics and LG Chem have to deal with lingering uncertainties in the market,’’ Eu said.

LG Household & Health Care, a cosmetics unit, also saw its quarterly operating profit exceed 100 billion won for the first time, capping its second consecutive year of sales above 1 trillion won.

By Seo Jee-yeon (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)