South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics has revealed its preliminary earnings for the third quarter... and they don't look so good, but analysts say, the numbers are slightly better than what they expected.
Yoon Jung-min reports.
Samsung Electronics saw its operating profits rise on-quarter in the third quarter,... but its profits were down sharply from the same period last year.
According to its preliminary earnings report released on Tuesday,... Samsung Electronics recorded operating profits of some six-point-four billion U.S. dollars in the July-to-September period, up 17 percent on-quarter.
Sales amounted to some 52 billion dollars,... up ten percent on-quarter.
On-year, operating profits were down 56 percent,...while sales were down five percent...mainly on lower memory chip prices.
However, during the same period last year, Samsung Electronics posted some of its largest ever profits and sales.
Analysts also say the company's performance was better than expected, especially taking into account the global uncertainties, such as the U.S.-China trade conflict.
On Monday, Samsung's domestic rival, LG Electronics, posted operating profits of some 653-million dollars in the third quarter, up more than 4 percent on-year.
Its sales were also up nearly two percent on-year to 13-billion dollars.
Although LG did not reveal the reasons for its earnings surprise,... analysts say the tech company's home appliance and mobile communication units performed well during that period.
Samsung and LG are due to release their finalized figures later this month.
Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News.