Samsung sees 2021 annual operating profit jump 43%

Samsung has posted solid earnings for the fourth quarter last year thanks to expanded sales of finished products and advanced processing nodes in semiconductors.

The company said on Thursday that it has recorded 76.57 trillion won in revenue and 13.87 trillion won in operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2021. Both figures are records for its fourth quarter.

For the entire year of 2021, Samsung posted 279.6 trillion won in revenue and 51.63 trillion won in operating profit, an increase of 18.1% and 43.5%, respectively from 2020. The annual revenue figure is its highest ever.

For the fourth quarter, the South Korean tech giant said it saw expanded sales of premium smartphones like foldable phones and solid sales of TVs and home appliances.

Operating margin rate of the quarter of 18.1%. Samsung said it made special bonus payments to employees during the quarter and saw marketing expenses increase as well.

Its chip business, called Device Solution by the firm, recorded 26 trillion won in revenue and 8.84 trillion won in operating profit during the quarter.

Samsung said it refrained from expanding sales of memory chips and focused on advanced processing nodes compared to the previous quarter.

Its foundry unit under the chip business also recorded its highest quarterly revenue, the company said, though it didn’t reveal specific figures.

The display business, meanwhile, recorded 9 trillion won in revenue and 1.32 trillion won in operating profit.

It saw strong demand from major customers for its mobile display panels, Samsung said.

However, for large panels, it saw losses increase from the price drop in liquid crystal display panels and initial expenses to start manufacturing its QD Display.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s mobile business recorded 28.95 trillion won in revenue and 2.66 trillion won in operating profit.

The company said the business saw expanded sales of smartphones, PCs, tablets and wearables during the quarter, but operating profit was affected by the increase in year’s end marketing costs.

Samsung’s consumer electronics business recorded 15.35 trillion won in revenue and 0.7 trillion won in operating profit.

Year’s end sales contributed to high revenue but logistics cost increased compared to the previous quarter.