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Pastimes : The Justa & Lars Honors Bob Brinker Investment Club -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: C_Johnson who wrote (3422)	2/22/1999 7:35:00 PM
From: Justa Werkenstiff	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 15132

Carl: Re: "There is one other place where you can get a complete SEMInvest '99 writeup - infras.com Yes, we are in the business of selling this material so you have to pay to get the issue." Yes, and we charge to post here. Lars will send you a bill unless you are willing to buy some Mary Kay cosmetics or Brinker tee shirts <g>. Re: "What did you think about the comments Ali Irani made about Samsung's DRAM cost structure?" Seems as if Samsung wants to play some serious Johnson no-limit poker to drive costs down to $2.50 for 64 megs by the end of this year. I think that's the game. Maybe Bronson got to them by saying that Micron is outspending them 3:1 <g>. I am sure Ali did his homework. But where is the money going to come from for all this capex? Have the Koreans learned anything from the last game? Let's hope not <g>. Care to share your take with the stiffs on this thread? Nice tutorial. Enjoyed it very much.

To: C_Johnson who wrote (3422)	2/22/1999 7:52:00 PM
From: Justa Werkenstiff	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15132

Carl: Maybe I answered my own question re Samsung: Samsung Elec profit seen soaring after 1998 jump By Yoo Choon-sik SEOUL, Feb 22 (Reuters) - South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co is expected to show whopping growth in profit this year after doubling its net in 1998, analysts said on Monday. They said Samsung's bullish earnings would mostly come from stronger-than-expected prices for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, the brains of personal computers, as global PC demand maintains impressive growth. ''We believe the (global DRAM) market's going to grow to around $17.5 billion this year, which is an increase of around 21 percent,'' said Jonathan Dutton, an analyst at Warburg Dillon Read Securities. ''DRAM chip makers will see a similar level of increase. Generally speaking, the profitability, we believe, will be significantly better in 1999 than in 1998.'' Analysts predicted the company's net profit would grow to between 650 billion won ($543.02 million) and one trillion won this year from 313.5 billion profit in 1998. Last year's profit was more than double the 123.5 billion won profit Samsung posted in 1997. The world's largest DRAM maker, announcing its calendar 1998 results on February 5, said sales last year rose to 20.08 trillion from 18.47 trillion in 1997. Memory chips made up about 35 percent of the company's sales last year. The debt-to-equity ratio of Samsung Electronics, flagship of the Samsung Group [SAGR.CN], fell to 198 percent at the end of 1998 from 295 percent at the end of 1997. Analysts said Samsung's sharp profit growth would be aided by a faster decline in production costs and increased earnings from the thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) sector. ''I think Samsung will also achieve its first annual profit from the TFT-LCD sector,'' said Keehong Rhee, analyst at HSBC Securities. An executive of Samsung Electronics told Reuters earlier this year the company expected to post its first profit of some 100 billion won since it entered the sector in 1995. TFT-LCD sales were estimated at $800 million in 1998 against $700 million 1997, Samsung officials said. The international price for the most common 64-megabit DRAM chips now stands at around $10.50 per unit, little changed from the average level of $11 for all of last year, analysts said. ''The 64-megabit DRAM price is now expected to stay at a high $8-$8.50 this year on average and this is much stronger than had been expected,'' said Tony Jung, analyst at SG Securities. Analysts said the strong PC demand was mainly attributable to the bullish U.S. economy which boosted consumer spending there and global concerns about the Y2K computer glitch problem, which has sparked fresh replacement demand for PCs. They said earnings for two other South Korean chipmakers -- LG Semicon Co and Hyundai Electronics Industries Co -- would also improve but did not give forecast figures because the two are undergoing various changes. Hyundai Electronics is scheduled to take over LG Semicon under a government-initiated corporate restructuring drive aimed at easing a severe local over-capacity in key sectors. The two companies are expected to announce their annual income statements around the middle of March when they hold general shareholders' meetings. Samsung Electronics also manufactures consumer electronics appliances but analysts said the company was likely to see its net account in this sector remain in the red this year. ($1 equals 1,197 won) Previous