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South Korea's Samsung Electronics Friday announced a record quarterly net profit as demand for its flat-panel televisions, mobile phones and chips rose in an improving global economy.
The country's biggest company said net profit more than tripled in the third quarter to 3.72 trillion won (3.13 billion dollars), from 1.22 trillion won in the same period last year.
Sales on a parent-level basis rose 29 percent year-on-year to 24.86 trillion won from 19.26 trillion a year earlier, while operating profit rose to 2.767 trillion from 1.023 trillion.
Samsung is the world's biggest maker of computer memory chips and flat-screen televisions, and the second largest mobile phone manufacturer behind Finland's Nokia.
Vice president Robert Yi forecast a solid fourth quarter supported by seasonal demand for consumer electronics, but said the won's rise and increased marketing expenses may lead to a quarter-on-quarter decline in profit.
"Samsung has made great progress in strengthening its market leadership throughout 2009, and we believe the outlook is positive for further growth as the global economic recovery continues into 2010," he said in a statement.
On a consolidated basis including overseas subsidiaries, operating profit for July-September was 4.23 trillion won compared to 1.48 trillion. Sales were worth 35.87 trillion won compared with 30.27 trillion a year earlier.
Analysts said the outstanding performance would not be sustained in the current quarter because the firm normally spends more on marketing in October-December.
The won's rise on currency markets also means that its exports would be less competitive in price terms than foreign competitors, they said.
"The chip sector will likely remain strong in the fourth quarter, but falling LCD panel prices and higher marketing costs on handsets and TVs on top of a drop in the dollar-won exchange rate will narrow operating profit," said Seo Won-Seok, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities.
Samsung, however, said a weak dollar would not have a significant impact since it accounts for only 50 percent of its exchange position.
It said a strong euro and yen would enable Samsung to maintain its price-competitiveness alongside European and Japanese rivals.
The company also said it expects consolidated capital spending for the whole of 2009 to reach seven trillion won, including four trillion for its chip business and two trillion for LCDs.
It said it expects to increase capital spending further in 2010, with more than 5.5 trillion planned for its memory business to respond to rising demand and three trillion for the LCD business.
-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report --
