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Beating expectations against the odds.
South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics performed well better than analysts were forecasting in the first three months of 2020.
The relatively healthy returns coming despite the coronavirus pandemic that's wreaking havoc on the global economy.
Eum Ji-young has more.
Samsung Electronics has reported better-than-expected first quarter profits amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
Samsung Electronics said in its earnings guidance on Tuesday that its operating profit for the first three months of this year likely went up 2-point-7 percent from a year ago,... slightly beating expectations.
As one of the first major tech names to report earnings amid the coronavirus pandemic,... the company said it expects 5-point-2 billion U.S. dollars in operating profit for the first quarter of this year,... up from the 5-billion it posted for the same period last year.
The company expects its consolidated sales to be 45-billion dollars, up almost 5 percent on-year.
But both sales and profits are down when compared to the previous quarter.
Operating profit is expected to be down 10-point-6 percent compared to the previous quarter, and consolidated sales is expected to see an 8-point-1 percent on-quarter drop.
This comes amid a slump in sales of smartphones and home appliances.
Analysts say the company's semiconductor business might have helped the firm stay in the black during the pandemic,... as data centers fueled a recovery in memory chip markets,... one of Samsung's main profit centers.
South Korean businesses in general are not faring so well. The combined operating profit of companies listed on the benchmark KOSPI is projected to have slumped nearly 17-percent on-year in the first quarter.
Financial data provider FnGuide says the combined operating profit of 141 firms is set to be around 13-point-7 billon U.S. dollars,... down from 16-and-a-half billion for the same period last year.
Eum Ji-young, Arirang News.