SEOUL (Reuters) - LG Energy Solution (LGES), an electric vehicle (EV) battery supplier for General Motors and Tesla, estimated on Monday a 138% rise in its quarterly operating profit.

However, excluding tax credits under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, LG Energy Solution said it saw an operating loss of 83 billion won ($56.52 million) in the first quarter, as the industry is hit by cooling demand for electric vehicles.

The South Korean company said its operating profit was likely 374.7 billion won for the January-to-March period, compared with a 157.3 billion won profit a year earlier and a 29 billion won average forecast by LSEG SmartEstimate, weighted toward analysts who are more consistently accurate.

($1 = 1,468.6000 won)

(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Tom Hogue and Muralikumar Anantharaman)