Demand Outstripping Supply -- Chip News from Bloomberg
by: frey_guy17 10/16/03 11:39 pm
Msg: 159558 of 159577
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Samsung Posts Unexpected Third-Quarter Profit Gain (Update3)
Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Samsung Electronics Co., the world's biggest chipmaker after Intel Corp., posted an unexpected gain in third-quarter profit as sales of flat-panel displays and memory chips surged.
Net income rose 6.3 percent to 1.84 trillion won ($1.6 billion) in the three months ended Sept. 30, from 1.73 trillion won a year ago. Sales rose 15 percent to a record. The Seoul- based company forecast record profit in the fourth quarter.
Samsung's profit gain and Intel's announcement this week that earnings more than doubled in the past quarter may signal a three-year slump in demand for computer hardware may be nearing an end. Samsung's Chief Executive Officer Yun Jong Yong has vowed to keep the company's market leadership in producing memory chips by outspending rivals.
``Things seem to be getting better and better for the company,'' said Lee Young Ho, who manages the equivalent of $511 million at Kyobo Investment Trust Management Co. in Seoul. ``Aggressive spending and higher profits will help Samsung to keep its unrivaled position, especially in memory chips.''
Samsung's shares, which have risen 47 percent since Jan. 1, gained after the earnings report. They rose as much as 6,500 won, or 1.4 percent, to 466,000 won before slipping. They were down 0.8 percent at 456,000 won as of 11:16 a.m. in Seoul.
Priced In
``The results were definitely higher than most people had expected,'' said Jeon Woo Dong, who oversees the equivalent of $425 million at KB Investment Trust Management Co. in Seoul. ``Some investors judge that it has already been priced into the shares.''
The average selling price of the company's dynamic random- access memory chips, the main memory in PCs and other consumer electronics, exceeded $6 in the period, Samsung said.
Samsung's operating profit jumped to 2.05 trillion won from 1.82 trillion won. Sales for the quarter totaled 11.26 trillion won, up from 9.78 trillion won a year ago.
Samsung was expected to report third-quarter net income of about 1.53 trillion won, according to the median estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
The company will buy back and cancel 1 trillion won of shares starting this month. Meanwhile, the company had 7.1 trillion won in cash at the end of the third quarter, up from 4.97 trillion won in the second.
Spending More
Yun has vowed to outspend rivals to outfit Samsung with the latest production equipment so the South Korean chipmaker is better placed to exploit increases in demand for electronic components.
Yun will push ahead with his strategy. Samsung today said it will increase capital spending this year to 7.03 trillion won, almost 4 percent higher than the 6.78 trillion won originally budgeted. Part of that spending will be used to increase the company's investments at its semiconductor business to 6.27 trillion won from 5.77 trillion won.
By division, operating profit at Samsung's chip unit totaled 1.35 trillion won in the third quarter, while operating profit at its telecommunications business totaled 750 billion won.
The company, the world's biggest mobile-phone maker after Nokia Oyj and Motorola Inc., sold 15 million cellular phones in the third quarter and 5.2 million liquid-crystal display screens in the period, a 19 percent gain from the second quarter. Flash- memory sales of chips with 512 megabits of capacity totaled 66 million in the third quarter.
Samsung now expects industrywide sales of 460 million handsets this year, up from an earlier estimate of 430 million.
Demand Outstripping Supply
Samsung executives last month said the company's memory-chip unit, liquid-crystal display and cell-phone divisions are struggling to meet demand.
Looking ahead, Samsung said it expects a 16 percent jump in personal computer shipments in the fourth quarter compared with the third. The company expects demand for both DRAM chips and liquid-crystal displays to outstrip supply in the fourth quarter. LCD demand should rise 12 percent compared with the third quarter while supply will only rise 10 percent, the company said.
Samsung is also considering an alliance with Sony Corp., the world's second-largest consumer-electronics maker, in flat screens. Sony and Samsung are in final talks aimed at setting up a 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) liquid-crystal display venture, Sony said today. Samsung is leaning toward agreeing.
``We are positively considering the alliance with Sony but we still have to make the final decision,'' Chu Woo Sik, Samsung's head of investor relations, said on a conference call with reporters and investors. ``We expect to make a announcement in the next few days.''
Last Updated: October 16, 2003 22:57 EDT |
