LG Household & Healthcare Co. (KSE:51900), South Korea's top consumer products maker, said Thursday that its 2006 earnings plunged 26.3 per cent from a year earlier to 52.95 billion won (US$56.5 million).

Sales, however, grew 6.7 per cent year-on-year to 1.03 trillion won, and operating profit rose 34.3 per cent to 94.5 billion won, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Shares of LG Household rose 2.53 per cent to 121,500 won as of 9:42 a.m. on the main bourse.

LG Household, a division of conglomerate LG Group, said it aims to achieve over 10 per cent growth in sales this year by focusing more on high-end cosmetics and environmentally-friendly household goods.