South Korea's Samsung Electronics on Thursday forecast second-quarter operating profit of 3.7 trillion won ($3.48 billion), a 26 per cent fall from a record 5.01 trillion won a year earlier.
Giving its earnings guidance before the release of official results, Samsung also estimated second-quarter revenue at 39 trillion won, a 2.9 per cent increase from 37.89 trillion in April-June 2010.
The company, the world's biggest maker of flat panels, memory chips and flat-screen televisions, did not give an estimate for net profit or other details.
Analysts said the liquid crystal display business probably suffered from falling demand for televisions and personal computers — especially in the United States and Europe — as the global economic recovery falters.
They expected earnings to improve modestly in coming quarters due largely to strong sales of its latest version of the Android- powered smartphone, Galaxy S II.
As of the end of June, Samsung had sold around three million of the new model globally since it debuted in April.
Some industry-watchers said the company's performance would probably improve over the rest of the year, as its advanced displays — organic light emitting diodes — help turn around that business.
'The display business hit the bottom and with a higher profit from the OLED panels, it will post about 100 billion won in operating profit in the third quarter,' David Choi, an analyst at KTB Investment & Securities, told Yonhap news agency.
In the first quarter of this year, the company recorded an operating profit of 2.95 trillion won on sales of 36.98 trillion.
Source : New Age
