April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics is forecast to post operating profit of 9.9 trillion won (US$8.76 billion) in the January-March period, up 48.2 percent from a year ago, according to its earnings guidance announced on April 7.

The figure is the tech giant’s highest first-quarter earnings, considering the first three months of the year are considered as off-season for semiconductor and smartphone sales. 

Samsung earned its highest quarterly operating profit of 10.16 trillion won in the third quarter of 2013 thanks to robust smartphone and chip sales.

The company estimated its revenue in the first quarter this year would reach 50 trillion won, up 0.44 percent on-year.

Analysts forecast Samsung’s recent momentum will continue in the second quarter following the launch of its new flagship smartphone Galaxy S8 on April 21.

“The operating profit from the mobile business is expected to increase by 2 trillion won in the second quarter, compared to the first quarter,” said Kwon Seong-ryul, an analyst at Dongbu Securities, predicting a record operating profit of almost 12 trillion won in the second quarter.

By Kim Yong-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)