Samsung Electronics Co yesterday forecast a surge in first-quarter operating profit to near-record levels, heading into a year for which the biggest flat screen TV producer is predicting double-digit sales growth as global markets recover.
The company said in a statement it expected an operating profit of bewteen 4.1 trillion won (US$3.65 billion) and 4.5 trillion won for the first three months of the year. That would be at least seven times the 590 billion won profit for the same period last year and might top its record of 4.2 trillion won for the third quarter of last year.
Samsung gave no reasons for the strong first-quarter performance and spokeswoman Hwang Eun-ju said it would explain when it releases results at the end of this month.
Operating profit is seen as a direct indicator of business performance before taxes, dividends, asset sales and other items that are figured into net profit or loss. Samsung had a net earnings of 620 billion won in the first quarter of last year. It does not release net profit forecasts.
Samsung, based in Suwon, South Korea, is the world’s largest manufacturer of flat screen televisions, computer memory chips and LCDs and the No. 2 maker of mobile phone handsets after Finland’s Nokia Corp.
Samsung last month predicted strong earnings this year, as economic growth in advanced and large developing economies gains speed. The company said it was aiming for double-digit percentage growth from last year’s record-high sales of 136.3 trillion won.
Samsung made headlines last month when it announced that Lee Kun-hee, its former chairman who was convicted of tax evasion and later pardoned by the South Korean president, returned to the top post after a nearly two-year absence.
The company began issuing earnings estimates, or guidance, last year in hopes increased transparency would help minimize market speculation over its performance. The estimates include the performance of its overseas and domestic subsidiaries.
Samsung estimated consolidated sales of between 33 trillion won and 35 trillion won for the first quarter. That compares with sales of 28.7 trillion won a year earlier.
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