Samsung Electronics' Operating Profit of 6.5 Trillion KRW Last Year... Recovery Trend Emerging in the Second Half

84.92% Decrease Compared to Same Period Last Year
2.8 Trillion Won Profit in Q4... Third Consecutive Quarter of Growth

Samsung Electronics recorded its lowest annual operating profit in 15 years last year due to the impact of the semiconductor downturn.

Samsung Electronics Seocho Building, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Samsung Electronics announced on the 9th that its consolidated operating profit for last year was tentatively estimated at 6.54 trillion KRW, with sales of 258.16 trillion KRW.

Operating profit decreased by 84.92% and sales by 4.91% compared to the same period the previous year. The operating profit for the fourth quarter of last year was 2.8 trillion KRW, a sharp drop of 35.03% from the same period the previous year. Sales amounted to 67 trillion KRW.

This is the first time in 15 years that Samsung Electronics' annual operating profit has fallen below 10 trillion KRW since 2008, when the global financial crisis hit, recording 6.0319 trillion KRW.

Analysis suggests that the poor performance in semiconductors had a significant impact. Due to the downturn, the Device Solutions (DS) division, responsible for the semiconductor business, posted a cumulative loss in the 12 trillion KRW range through the third quarter of last year. However, performance showed signs of improvement in the fourth quarter.

Looking at quarterly figures, operating profit increased for three consecutive quarters, starting from 640 billion KRW in the first quarter of last year, 670 billion KRW in the second quarter, and 2.44 trillion KRW in the third quarter. However, the fourth quarter operating profit fell short of market expectations and did not meet the recently heightened performance outlook.

Samsung Electronics did not disclose performance by business division when announcing the tentative results on this day.

The tentative results are estimates based on the Korean International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). They were provided to assist investors while the final settlement has not yet been completed. Samsung Electronics has been providing quarterly earnings forecasts since July 2009, the first domestic company to do so. IFRS was first applied in 2010.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics plans to strengthen communication with investors and enhance understanding by collecting inquiries about management status in advance and providing answers during the earnings announcement conference call.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.