Samsung designs increase in operating profit of 1st Qtr

SEOUL-Samsung Electronics projects a sharp advance in operating profit in the first quarter compared with the same period last year due to strong sales of smartphones.
Analysts predict that this trend will continue in the second quarter, when the company begins selling its Galaxy S smartphone 4.
The world's largest producer of mobile phones, televisions and memory chips said on Friday it expects an operating profit of 8.5 trillion won to 8.9 trillion won (US $ 7.6 billion and US $ 8 billion) for the three months ended March 31. This compares with operating profit of 5.7 trillion won from the same period of the previous year and a quarterly record of 8.8 trillion won in the fourth quarter of 2012
Samsung, South Korea's largest company in terms of market capitalization, said that sales have climbed to 51 trillion won to 53 trillion won, from 45.3 trillion won a year earlier. The information is from Dow Jones.