Samsung profits plunge by 95%

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd profits’ plunged by 95 percent in the first quarter, to reach its lowest level since 2009, the drop came as prices for its memory chips continued to fall and demand remained weak.

The company said on Thursday that its operating profit fell to $478.6 billion for January-March quarter. It went down 95 percent from 14.12 trillion the year before, recording the lowest profit for any quarter in 14 years.

The tech giant’s chip division reported a 4.58 trillion won loss compared to an 8.45 trillion won profit a year earlier. Shares in Samsung fell by 0.5 percent in morning trade on Wednesday.

The shares have risen about 16 percent year-to-date, while investors are anticipating a memory chip recovery in the second half of this year.