Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) posted first-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates as the world’s largest maker of mobile phones boosted sales of cheaper Galaxy handsets in emerging markets.
Operating profit rose to about 8.7 trillion won ($7.7 billion) in the three months ended March 31 from 5.69 trillion won a year earlier, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said today. That compares with the 8.38 trillion-won average of 39 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose to about 52 trillion won from 45.27 trillion won a year earlier.
Enlarge image Samsung First-Quarter Profit Beats Estimates on Galaxy Sales
Samsung Electronics Co. signage is displayed on billboards as pedestrians walk by during the release of the Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy S4 smartphone in Times Square in New York on March 14, 2013. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
April 5 (Bloomberg) -- Mark Newman, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, talks about Samsung Electronics Co.'s business outlook and financial performance. Samsung posted first-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates as the world’s largest maker of mobile phones boosted sales of cheaper Galaxy handsets in emerging markets. Newman speaks in Hong Kong with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)
Enlarge image Samsung First-Quarter Profit Beats Estimates on Galaxy Sales
People test out the new Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy S4 smartphone during the Galaxy S4's release in Times Square in New York on March 14, 2013. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
Enlarge image Samsung First-Quarter Profit Beats Estimates on Galaxy Sales
A man using a mobile phone as he walks past a Samsung Electronics Co. advertisement displayed at the company's Seocho office building in Seoul, South Korea. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
Samsung’s mobile-phone business was again its biggest profit driver, with lower-margin handsets adding to growth by high-end Galaxy models. The company unveiled its Galaxy S4 with a bigger screen and improved software functions on March 14 in New York as it tries to reclaim the top spot in mobile-phone sales in the U.S., where it was overtaken by iPhone maker Apple Inc. (005930) in the three months ended Dec. 31.
“In addition to the Galaxy S3, mini models sold well in emerging markets including China, Brazil and India,” Lee Sei Cheol, a Seoul-based analyst at Meritz Securities, said by phone before today’s announcement. “Samsung’s continued ascent in the smartphone industry seems to be unparalleled.”
Samsung, which will announce audited results later this month, rose 0.6 percent to 1,515,000 won at 9:35 a.m. in Seoul trading, compared with a 0.7 percent decline for South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index. The company’s shares have declined 0.4 percent this year.
TV Sales
The company’s mobile division, which accounted for 67 percent of total operating profit last year, probably had a first-quarter operating profit of 6.25 trillion won as sales increased 40 percent, according to a Bloomberg News survey of five analysts.
Samsung’s share of global flat-panel TV revenues rose 6 percent in 2012 from a year earlier, NPD DisplaySearch said in a March 21 report. The company had 27.7 percent market share by revenue, ahead of LG Electronics Inc. (066570)’s 15 percent, the Santa Clara, California-based research company said.
Profit last quarter at the company’s display unit, which dominates the market for panels using organic light emitting diodes, or OLED, probably surged to 910 billion won from 230 billion won a year earlier, according to the survey. The displays are used in the company’s Galaxy models.
Sales of Galaxy devices remained strong, Lee Sun Tae, a Seoul-based analyst at NH Investment & Securities, said by phone before today’s announcement. Lee estimated Samsung’s first- quarter smartphone shipments at 70 million units, compared with 62 million in the preceding quarter.
Source: Bloomberg
