Samsung’s profit plunges to 8-year low

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd flagged on Friday its quarterly profit tumbled by two-thirds to an eight-year low as a weakening global economy hammered memory chip prices and curbed demand for electronic devices.

The dismal profit estimate by the world’s largest memory chip, smartphone and TV maker - a bellwether for global consumer demand - sets a weak tone for other technology firms’ quarterly results.

Samsung’s profits are expected to shrink again in the current quarter, analysts said, after the South Korean company announced its October-December operating profit likely fell 69 per cent to 4.3 trillion won ($3.37 billion) from 13.87 trillion won a year earlier.

It was Samsung’s smallest quarterly profit since the third quarter of 2014 and fell short of a 5.9 trillion won Refinitiv SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.

“All of Samsung’s businesses had a hard time, but chips and mobile especially,” said Lee Min-hee, analyst at BNK Investment & Securities.

Quarterly revenue likely fell 9 per cent from the same period a year earlier to 70 trillion won, Samsung said in a short preliminary earnings statement. Asia’s fourth-biggest listed company by market value will release detailed earnings on Jan. 31.

Rising global interest rates and cost of living have dampened demand for smartphones and other devices that Samsung makes and also for the semiconductors it supplies to rivals such as Apple Inc.

“For the memory business, the decline in fourth-quarter demand was greater than expected as customers adjusted inventories in their effort to further tighten finances,” Samsung said in the statement.

Its mobile business’ profit declined in the fourth quarter as smartphone sales and revenue decreased due to weak demand resulting from prolonged macroeconomic issues, Samsung added.