Samsung Electronics Achieves Record-High First Half Sales... Semiconductor Operating Profit Nears 7 Trillion Won

First Half Sales 130 Trillion Won, Operating Profit 22 Trillion Won
Semiconductor Sales Highest Since 2018 Q3 Supercycle
Ordinary and Preferred Shares Dividend of 361 Won Each per Share

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Samsung Electronics posted an operating profit approaching 7 trillion won in its core semiconductor business in the second quarter of this year, achieving the best performance since the 2018 supercycle (period of booming growth). Sales in this sector also exceeded 22 trillion won for the first time in about three years. With the semiconductor sector recovering, Samsung Electronics recorded its highest-ever sales in the first half of this year.

Samsung Electronics announced on the 29th that it recorded consolidated sales of 63.67 trillion won and an operating profit of 12.57 trillion won in the second quarter of this year. Compared to the same period last year (sales of 53 trillion won and operating profit of 8.15 trillion won), sales increased by 20.21% and operating profit rose by 54.26%, respectively.

Among these, the semiconductor division’s operating profit was 6.93 trillion won, accounting for more than half of the total operating profit. This is the highest figure since the fourth quarter of 2018, when it recorded an operating profit of 7.7 trillion won. Sales in this division also reached 22.74 trillion won, the highest since the third quarter of 2018 (24.77 trillion won).

Samsung Electronics analyzed, "Demand was strong mainly for servers and PCs in the memory business, and prices for both DRAM and NAND rose more than expected." They added, "By expanding the proportion of advanced processes and reducing costs, performance improved significantly." Although there are uncertain factors in the second half of the year, such as the spread of COVID-19 variants and supply shortages of some components, memory market demand is expected to remain solid. In the system semiconductor sector, the Austin foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) in the U.S., which had suspended operations earlier this year due to a cold wave, has normalized, leading to increased profits."

Including sales of 65.39 trillion won in the first quarter, Samsung Electronics achieved total sales of 129.6 trillion won in the first half of the year. This is the highest ever for the first half of a year. Operating profit also recorded the highest figure in 11 quarters since the third quarter of 2018 (17.57 trillion won). Among other businesses besides semiconductors, the IT & Mobile (IM) division achieved second-quarter sales of 22.67 trillion won and an operating profit of 3.24 trillion won. The Consumer Electronics (CE) division posted second-quarter sales of 13.4 trillion won and an operating profit of 1.06 trillion won. The Display (DP) division recorded sales of 6.87 trillion won and an operating profit of 1.28 trillion won.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics resolved at its board meeting on the same day to pay a quarterly cash dividend of 361 won per share for both common and preferred stocks. The total dividend amount is approximately 2.4522 trillion won, with the payment scheduled for the 18th of next month.