LG Electronics on Thursday said continued losses in its mobile unit limited growth in second-quarter profit to 13.6 percent, as the firm prepares to release a handset in the third quarter. But the new mobile device will be going against Apple's iPhone 8 and Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 8.

The firm said operating profit reached 664 billion won ($597 million) in April-June, in line with its estimate earlier in July. Revenue rose 3.9 percent to 14.6 trillion won, also in line with its estimate.

The firm's mobile division reported a 132 billion won loss, its ninth consecutive quarterly loss, hit by lackluster sales of its flagship G6 smartphone.

LG's appliance division reported operating profit of 466 billion won, steadied by brisk sales for high-end products such as washing machines and refrigerators, as well as lower costs of materials used commonly among its products.

LG said its TV business booked a 343 billion won profit, as higher panel costs were offset by growing demand for up-market sets such as organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel TVs that offer bigger margins.

The LG Vehicle Components company continued its growth with second-quarter sales of KRW 882.6 billion (USD 781.7 million), an increase of 38 percent from the same period in 2016, in large part due to the success of its telematics business and components for the recently-launched Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle in the United States. Investments in new business areas such as advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS), resulted in an operating loss of KRW 16.4 billion (USD 14.5 million) for the quarter.