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Samsung Electronics said Thursday it expects a fourth-quarter operating profit of some 3.7 trillion won (about $3.3 billion), with sales rising 18 percent year-on-year to a record high.

Projections show that Samsung will likely become the first Korean company ever to reach the "100-10 trillion club" ― firms that achieve more than 100 trillion won in revenue and 10 trillion won in operating profit on a yearly basis.

The world's biggest electronics company, which reported an operating loss of 740 billion during the October-December period in 2008, has been proving its mettle amid the economic downturn on the strength of its performance in consumer electronics and mobile phones.

Now, with the markets for memory chips and liquid crystal displays (LCDs) finally coming around, the company seems to be close to firing on all cylinders.

Samsung is the world's leading producer of memory chips, LCDs and flat-screen televisions, and trails only Nokia in handsets.

The company posted sales of 97.5 trillion won and an operating profit of 7.2 trillion won between January and September.

Based on its fourth-quarter predictions, Samsung's operating profit is expected to reach 10.9 trillion won for the whole of 2009, a 90 percent increase from 2008, with sales reaching 136.1 trillion won, up 15 percent from the previous year.

Samsung's estimated fourth-quarter revenue of 39 trillion won represents an 18.2 percent jump from the same period in 2008 and would mark its highest quarterly sales ever, company officials said.

The company plans to make public its fourth-quarter earnings later this month.

By Kim Tong-hyung (Staff Reporter)


# The Korea Times [JANUARY 07 2010]