Samsung Electronics' profit posts double-digit growth in Q3

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics, South Korea's tech giant, posted a doubledigit growth in the thirdquarter operating profit thanks to a recovery in global demand, the company said Thursday.

Operating profit reached 12.35 trillion won (10.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the JulySeptember quarter, up 58.8 percent from a year earlier. It was the highest in two years since the third quarter of 2018. Revenue expanded by 8.0 percent to hit a record high of 66.96 trillion won (59.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the quarter, and net income rose 48.9 percent to 9.36 trillion won (8.3 billion U.S. dollars).

The ratio of operating profit to revenue came to 18.44 percent in the cited quarter, the highest in two years. Samsung said in a statement that reopening of key economies led to a significant increase in consumer demand even as the COVID19 pandemic has continued around the world. Outlook for the fourthquarter earnings is blurred by the COVID19 resurgence in Europe and in the United States.

Samsung said it expected profit to decline in the fourth quarter amid weakening memory chip demand from server customers and intensifying competition in mobile phones and consumer electronics. Samsung's semiconductor business posted an operating profit of 5.54 trillion won (4.9 billion U.S. dollars) on revenue of 18.8 trillion won (16.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the third quarter. The profit was up from 5.43 trillion won (4.8 billion U.S. dollars) tallied in the second quarter, and the revenue marked the highest since the third quarter of 2018.