Samsung Electronics Profit Beats Estimates on Galaxy Sales

Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, posted first-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates as it boosted sales of Galaxy handsets in emerging markets.
Net income climbed to 7.15 trillion won ($6.4 billion) in the three months ended March 31 from 5.05 trillion won a year earlier, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in a statement today. That compares with the 6.73 trillion-won average of 36 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose to 52.9 trillion won from 45.3 trillion won.

Demand for Samsung’s high-end smartphones, including the flagship Galaxy S4 set for release today, and cheaper feature phones are stoking sales in the $358 billion market for handsets. Shipments that may be double those of Apple Inc.’s iPhone are pushing growth in telecommunications, already Samsung’s biggest profit driver, and limiting the impact of stalling global demand for televisions.

“The mobile business will again lead the overall earnings,” Oh Young Bo, an analyst at Hanmag Securities Corp. in Seoul, said before today’s announcement. “The new Galaxy S4 is expected to drive up sales, which will be accompanied by dual gains in display and chip earnings.”

Samsung closed yesterday at 1,494,000 won and has gained 14 percent in the past year, compared with a 0.5 percent drop in the benchmark Kospi index.

Operating income, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, rose to 8.78 trillion won from 5.69 trillion won a year earlier. That compares with the 8.7 trillion-won profit the company predicted earlier this month in its preliminary announcement.

Galaxy S4
The S4 -- with a 5-inch screen, 13-megapixel camera and motion-detecting software -- is scheduled to go on sale today in South Korea before being released globally.
The device, one of three high-end handsets being released this year, is part of Samsung’s plan to win back the top spot in smartphone sales in the U.S., where it was overtaken by Apple in the last quarter of 2012. The South Korean company previewed the new handset during an event at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
Samsung said yesterday that demand for the device is stronger than expected after U.S. wireless carriers T-Mobile USA Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) pushed back their release dates, citing shipment delays.

We've seen a lot of Q1 earnings reports this week, and the latest comes from Samsung. Samsung didn't want to disappoint after seeing the numbers from Apple, Google, and the rest, and it has not. Samsung's official numbers for its Q1 earnings report say that the Korean giant pulled in $28.6 billion in mobile sales.

Samsung's numbers are spot on compared to the predictions made. Operating profits were 8.78 trillion won ($7.9 billion) and net profits were 7.15 trillion won ($6.4 billion), which is a solid bump year-on-year compared to the 5.50 trillion won ($4.95 billion) the company saw in Q1 of 2012. All of that comes on 52.87 trillion won ($47.6 billion) in consolidated revenues for the company as a whole.

The IT & Mobile Communications division - consisting of Mobile Communications, Networks and Digital Imaging businesses saw strong numbers with first quarter with revenues of 32.82 trillion won ($29.5 billion), and operating profits of 6.51 trillion won ($5.9 billion). The mobile division specifically made up 31.77 trillion won ($28.6 billion) in sales, which is surprising because that marks a 7-percent increase from the holiday quarter. The numbers also came on strong sales for the Galaxy S III and Note II, despite the looming release of the Galaxy S IV.