SEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd reported a likely 78% drop in third-quarter operating profit on Wednesday, as the effects of an ongoing global chip glut drive losses in what is normally the South Korean tech giant’s cash cow business.
The world’s largest memory chip and smartphone maker estimated its operating profit fell to 2.4 trillion won ($1.79 billion) in July-September, from 10.85 trillion won a year earlier in a short preliminary earnings statement.
The profit beat a 2.1 trillion won LSEG SmartEstimate, which is weighted toward forecasts from analysts who are more consistently accurate.
Revenue likely fell 13% from the same period a year earlier to 67 trillion won, Samsung said in the statement.
The company is due to release detailed earnings later this month.
($1 = 1,342.1900 won)
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Jamie Freed)
