Samsung flags 56pc fall in profit

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it expected operating profits to drop more than 50 percent in the third quarter amid a continued slump in the global chip market.

Operating profit for July to September was forecast to reach 7.7 trillion won ($6.4 billion), down 56.2 percent from a year earlier, the world’s largest maker of smartphones and memory chips said in a statement.

It marks the fourth consecutive quarter in which the South Korean tech company has recorded a profit drop in the face of falling semiconductor prices and weakened demand for its mobile devices.

Sales for the third quarter were expected to reach around 62 trillion won, down 5.3 percent from the same period last year.

Samsung withholds net profit and sector-by-sector business performance until it releases its final earnings report, which is expected later this month.

Samsung shares edged up by one percent at morning trading in Seoul.

The firm is the flagship subsidiary of the giant Samsung Group, by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in the world’s 11th-largest economy, and crucial to South Korea’s economic health.