South Korea’s Samsung Electronics said Thursday that its operating profits soared 277 per cent year on year to US$6.6 billion, but missed expectations as it struggled to leverage demand for chips used in artificial intelligence servers.
The world’s largest memory chipmaker posted an operating profit of 9.18 trillion won (US$6.6 billion) “largely due to one-off costs”.
It also warned in a statement that “the strength of the Korean won against the US dollar resulted in a negative impact on companywide operating profit”.
Although operating profit nearly tripled compared to a year ago, it fell short of market expectations and was down 12 per cent compared to the previous quarter.
Revenue rose 17.35 per cent to 79.1 trillion won (US$57.2 billion), its highest quarterly record, Samsung said.
The firm is the flagship subsidiary of South Korean giant Samsung Group, by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.