SEOUL, July 6- Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s top maker of smartphones, memory chips and flat-panel TVs, estimated Friday it had posted a record quarterly operating profit of 9.5 trillion won (US$8.36 billion) in the second quarter of this year.
The preliminary estimate represents a 47 percent increase from a revised operating profit of 6.46 trillion won a year earlier, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted Samsung as saying in a regulatory filing.
It also marks a 8.2 percent rise from three months earlier when the tech behemoth posted an operating profit of 8.78 trillion won.
The second-quarter earnings guidance was lower than the market estimate of 10.2 trillion won.
Shares of Samsung Electronics were trading at 1,298,000 won on the Seoul bourse as of 9:35 a.m., down 1.44 percent from the previous session’s close. The guidance was released before the local stock market opened.
Revenue in the April-June period was estimated at 57 trillion won, up 19.8 percent from the previous year, according to the company’s earnings guidance, which did not provide breakdown figures for each of its business units.
Samsung Electronics did not disclose its net profit estimate. The company is scheduled to announce its second-quarter earnings later this month.
“Its hefty marketing spending on the Galaxy S4 might have dented its mobilebusiness’s performance, but its semiconductor and display units are projected to have produced good results,” said Kim Young-chan, an analyst at Shinhan Financial Investment.
Samsung said earlier that the Galaxy S4, the latest in its Galaxy S smartphone line-up, would bask in good results that are stronger than its previous models.
Samsung said last month that global sales of its Galaxy S4 smartphone have surpassed the 10 million mark since its release in late April.
The milestone comes 20 days faster than its predecessor, the Galaxy S3. It took seven months and five months, respectively, for the Galaxy S and the Galaxy S2 to reach that milestone, Samsung said.
However, a flurry of brokerage houses lowered their target prices for Samsung citing slower than expected sales of its new smartphone.
Last month, JP Morgan cut its target price for Samsung to 1.9 million won from 2.1 million won, sparking a massive sell-off of Samsung Electronics, the country’s top market cap.
Local brokerage houses also followed suit cutting their target prices on the tech giant citing sluggish sales of the Galaxy S4, which could hurt its mobile business’s profit margin.
Samsung’s mobile business unit accounted for roughly 74 percent of total operating income in the first quarter of the year.
“Demand for high-priced, high-end smartphones shows a slow growth, which could hurt Samsung’s profit margin,” said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at IBK Investment & Securities.
Earlier, brokerage houses projected a quarterly sales of 30 million Galaxy S4 handsets, but they are now expecting around 20-22 million units to be sold.
– BERNAMA
