INTERNATIONAL –Samsung Electronics, South Korea's tech giant, saw its operating profit more than halve in the second quarter on the prolonged downturn in business cycle of the global semiconductor industry, the company said Friday.
The preliminary figure for consolidated operating profit reached 6.5 trillion won (R 78bn) in the April-June quarter, down 56.3 percent from a year earlier.
It was around one third of the company's record quarterly profit tallied in the third quarter of last year. Samsung's operating profit had stayed above 10 trillion won for the seventh consecutive quarter to the fourth quarter of last year.
The preliminary revenue diminished 4.2 percent over the year to 56 trillion won in the June quarter.
Net income and the detailed earnings of each business would be announced later this month after external audit.
Samsung's sharp profit fall was attributed to the protracted downturn in business cycle of the global semiconductor industry that led to lower chip price.
During the January-June period, Samsung's operating profit amounted to 12.73 trillion won, tumbling 58.3 percent compared with the same period of last year.