SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Wednesday flagged a smaller-than-expected fall in quarterly operating profit, indicating that memory chip prices bottomed out quicker than analysts had anticipated, strengthening hopes of a recovery.
Operating profit in the quarter ended Dec. 31 likely fell 34per cent to 7.1 trillion won from 10.8 trillion won a year earlier, Samsung said. That came in ahead of the 6.5 trillion won forecast from Refinitiv SmartEstimate.Annual profit declined 53per cent to 27.7 trillion won, its lowest since 2015 and the steepest annual profit percentage drop in a decade.Samsung's shares were traded up 0.7per cent in a wider market that was down 0.8per cent.
A person familiar with Samsung's earnings told Reuters on Wednesday that the firm's chip and mobile earnings were better than expected, while earnings in the display business lagged.