TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Samsung's 4Q profit misses expectations
Visitors walk by an electronic screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec
Change Size
Visitors walk by an electronic screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 18, 2015. Asian stock markets were lower Friday as a persistent drop in the price of oil weighed on investor sentiment, eroding gains sparked the day before by the Fed's first rate hike in nearly a decade. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) (KOSPI) in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 18, 2015. Asian stock markets were lower Friday as a persistent drop in the price of oil weighed on investor sentiment, eroding gains sparked the day before by the Fed's first rate hike in nearly a decade. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
V
span class="inline inline-center">Visitors walk by an electronic screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 18, 2015. Asian stock markets were lower Friday as a persistent drop in the price of oil weighed on investor sentiment, eroding gains sparked the day before by the Fed's first rate hike in nearly a decade. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Samsung Electronics said Friday that its fourth-quarter profit rose 15 percent over a year earlier, a smaller-than-expected gain as the world's largest maker of smartphones and memory chips struggles to revive growth.
The South Korean company reported in its earnings preview that it recorded 6.1 trillion won ($5.1 billion) in operating profit for the October-December quarter, compared with 5.3 trillion won a year earlier.
Samsung was expected to report 6.6 trillion won in operating profit, according to financial data provider FactSet.
Sales stayed nearly flat at 53 trillion won ($44.3 billion), also slightly lower than expectations. It did not give net profit or other details, which will be announced at the end of this month.
The preliminary results showed that the company's annual profit dropped for a second time in three years after hitting a peak in 2013, as explosive growth in its mobile business, which once accounted for two-thirds of its profit, came to a stunning halt.
Samsung's semiconductor business posted profit growth thanks to solid consumer demand for consumer electronics and smartphones, but the profit from component sales fell short of offsetting a steep fall in mobile phone sales.
Analysts have recently lowered their earnings forecasts on Samsung, citing weak global demand for personal computers and smartphones that hurt its semiconductor business. They said Samsung's consumer electronics division, which manufactures and sells television sets and home appliances, was likely its only division that showed a recovery, thanks to seasonally high demand and a fall in LCD panel prices that helped save costs.
Samsung's stock price fell in recent weeks to its lowest level in three months, after rising briefly in November on its announcement of a shareholder return policy. (dan)
