Samsung Electronics saw its operating profit in the first quarter of this year post 6.4 trillion won (about $5.2 billion), a 2.7% increase from the same period last year.
Its sales reached 55 trillion won ($45 billion), up 4.9 percent from a year earlier. Compared to the previous year, sales and operating profit fell by 8.1 percent and 10.1 percent, respectively, the company said on April 7. This is higher than market expectations.
Its first-quarter operating profit was higher than the average of 6.1 trillion won in operating profits that brokerage houses recently expected. Its sales were slightly lower than the expected average of 55.5 trillion won.
Meanwhile, market watchers predict that Samsung Electronics' sales of smartphones and home appliances will drop in earnest in the second quarter, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its 6.4 trillion won operating profit is believed to have been supported by strong semiconductor business. According to industry sources, semiconductor operating profit in the first quarter of this year is expected to approach 3 trillion won. This can be attributed to the rise in both semiconductor prices and demands.
In addition, the industry estimates that the sets of mobile phones and TVs may not have been significantly hampered by the COVID-19 impact as sales were set for the first quarter.
However, the expansion of the COVID-19 to the U.S. and Europe, Samsung Electronics' biggest export markets, is expected to deal a direct blow to its second-quarter earnings as it has accelerated the shutdown of its overseas plants as well as the closure of its stores.
Although the semiconductor sector is expected to show similar demand in the second quarter as in the first quarter, the industry predicts that it will be hit hard by the disappearance of "sports boom" such as the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics in Japan.
