SEOUL, July 24 – Samsung Electronics Co., the world\’s leading computer memory chipmaker, posted on Friday what it called "outstanding" second-quarter results due to a recovery in prices and demand.
For the three months to June, it posted a net profit of 2.25 trillion won (1.8 billion dollars), up 5.2 percent from a year earlier and sharply up from the previous quarter, when it posted a 619 billion won net profit.
Operating profit rose to 2.52 trillion won in the second quarter, up from 2.4 trillion won a year earlier.
Sales rose to 32.51 trillion won from 29.1 trillion won a year earlier.
"Samsung achieved outstanding results in the second quarter with our consumer electronics business remaining strong and a solid performance in the still challenging components market," said Robert Yi, vice president and head of Samsung Electronics\’ investor relations team.
"That said, we maintain a cautious view looking ahead to the remainder of 2009 as operating profit may be affected by a possible appreciation of the Korean won and intensifying market competition," he said.
The company will continue to reinforce its technological edge while seeking greater efficiency in order to maintain market leadership, he added.
The result was better than the 1.84 trillion won average profit-forecast from six analysts polled earlier by Dow Jones Newswires.
Despite continued uncertainty in the global market, Samsung achieved "strong revenue growth and profit," the company said in a statement.
It said semiconductor demand was recovering, with sales increasing 7.2 percent year-on-year to 6.14 trilion won in the three months to June.
The LCD division returned to the black, posting an operating profit of 150 billion won, although revenue fell 8.1 percent year-on-year to 5.1 trillion won.
Telecommunications divisions, mostly mobile phones, registered an operating profit of one trillion won, maintaining a 10 percent margin. Revenue reached 10.04 trillion won, a 27.4 percent increase year-on-year.
"All key businesses outperformed expectations," said Lee Min-hee, an analyst at Dongbu Securities. "We expect continued surprises in Samsung\’s earnings down the road." he told Yonhap news agency.
