Samsung Electronics said on April 7 it expects profits to soar by 48.2 percent in the first quarter despite a smartphone recall fiasco and the arrest of its de facto head. / AFP PHOTO /
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean tech giant Samsung posted Wednesday its biggest quarterly net profit for more than three years on strong demand for its memory chips.
Net profit for the first quarter of the year amounted to 7.68 trillion won ($6.7 billion), up 46 percent from a year ago, the firm said in a statement.
It was the biggest quarterly net profit since the third quarter of 2013.
Operating profit jumped 48 percent from a year ago to 9.89 trillion won — also the biggest since the third quarter of 2013.
Profit breakdown showed the firm’s semiconductor business made its largest-ever operating profit of 6.3 trillion won.
Samsung — the world’s largest maker of mobile phones as well as memory chips — provides its chips to other companies including archrival Apple.
“The first quarter earnings were bolstered by solid performance of our component-making business that enjoyed strong sales thanks to favourable memory chip and display panel prices,” the firm said in a statement.
But the firm’s mobile business saw sales and profit slow with its first quarter operating profit at 2.07 trillion won, down from 3.9 trillion won a year ago.
Samsung suffered an embarrassing recall last year of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone over exploding batteries, which cost the firm billions of dollars and dealt a blow to its reputation.
© Agence France-Presse