Samsung CEO quits even as company expects record 14.5tril won Q3 profits
SEOUL: The chief executive officer of Samsung Electronics Kwon Oh-Hyun resigned yesterday, saying the South Korean tech giant was facing an “unprecedented crisis”, even as it expected profits to hit an all-time high in the third quarter.
Kwon’s resignation comes as the company struggles to overcome a bribery scandal that sent Lee Jae-Yong, its de-facto head and heir to the Samsung empire, to jail.
But in a sign of good news for the company, its estimated operating profits for the July-September period of 14.5 trillion won (RM54 billion) marked a record for quarterly profit, nearly tripling the 5.2 trillion won earned a year earlier.
Sales are expected to have surged 29.65 per cent on-year to 62 trillion won, with the booming semiconductor business boosting the company’s bottom line.
Despite the spectacular performance, Kwon said the company was in the throes of an “unprecedented crisis” as he announced his intention to step down.
“Fortunately, the company is now producing best-ever results but this is merely a fruit of decisions and investment made in the past,” he said in a statement.
“As we are confronted with unprecedented crisis inside out, I believe that time has now come for the company (to) start anew, with a new spirit and young leadership to better respond to challenges arising from the rapidly changing IT industry.”
Samsung did not announce the performance estimates of each business division but its semiconductor business is widely believed to have contributed greatly to the record-beating report.
The company is set to release its final earnings report later this month.
The company’s main products — DRAM and NAND memory chips used in smartphones — have also seen an increase in shipments and prices.
Rising sales of its flagship Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 smartphones were also believed to have bolstered the profitability of the mobile division, said analysts. AFP