[Anchor]
Samsung Electronics has recorded all-time highs in both operating profit and revenue for the third quarter. However, its stock price is falling as the company delayed finalizing its shareholder return plans until January next year.
Reporter An Huijae has the details.
[Reporter]
Samsung Electronics has finalized its record-breaking sales and earnings for the third quarter.
Revenue came in at 195.3 trillion won, with an operating profit of 107.4 trillion won.
This represents a 2.2-fold increase in revenue and an 8.8-fold increase in profit compared to the same period last year.
Notably, this is the first time the company's quarterly operating profit has crossed the 100 trillion won threshold.
Semiconductors were clearly the driving force behind the performance.
The semiconductor business alone generated 106 trillion won in operating profit.
Net profit reached 75.1 trillion won, marking a more than sixfold increase compared to the same period last year.
However, Samsung Electronics stated that sales for its Visual Display division declined due to the conclusion of major sports events, while the Home Appliances division saw a drop in performance due to the burden of rising raw material and logistics costs.
Regarding shareholder returns, which drew the most attention, the company decided to provide up to 110 trillion won this year and payout a total of 30 trillion won in third-quarter cash dividends.
However, the company delayed the announcement of specific plans on how to return up to 75 trillion won of the total 110 trillion won to shareholders until after the board of directors meeting in January next year.
Immediately following this announcement, Samsung Electronics' stock price has been on a downward trend of around 5% during morning trading.
Analysts attribute this to a spread of disappointment over the failure to present concrete plans, such as treasury stock cancellation.
The Kospi index also fell more than 2% compared to the previous day, losing the 6,000 mark, with only SK Hynix maintaining an upward trend.
(Video Editing: Kim Jong-mi)
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