By Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang
SEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Thursday it expects chip profits to increase in the current quarter after announcing its highest first-quarter operating profit since 2018.
The world’s top maker of memory chips posted a 46% jump in operating profit in the January-March quarter on the back of a 66% profit surge at its mobile business to 4.4 trillion won ($3.97 billion), the company said.
The jump was led by sales of its flagship Galaxy S21 smartphone series, while profit also soared at its television set and home appliance business, buoyed by continued stay-at-home demand.
Profits at its chip business, however, fell due to the cost of ramping up domestic production as well as losses at its Texas plant following a storm-related stoppage in mid-February that blunted the benefits of strong demand.
Net profit rose 46% to 7.1 trillion won. Revenue climbed 18% to 65.4 trillion won.
($1 = 1,108.9800 won)
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang; editing by Richard Pullin)
