The world’s fifth largest mobile phone manufacturer had a record first-quarter this year. LG Electronics sold 24.4 million mobile phones in the quarter ending in March of 2008. The sales helped the company earn a profit of 422 billion won ($427 million). In last year’s first-quarter, LG Electronics lost 123 billion won.

LG sales were led by the high-end Viewty, Voyager and Venus models. Profits were slightly below the 429 billion won ($435 million) that analysts had predicted. Much of the sales increase came from markets in Asia and the Middle East that saw an increase of 36% over last year’s fourth-quarter.

“We expect handset sales to exceed 100 million in 2008,” Jung Do-hyun, chief financial officer, told an analysts’ conference, according to LG spokeswoman Judy Pae.

LG makes more than mobile phones. The company also manufactures plasma televisions, personal computers, refrigerators and other appliances.