Major Korean firms forecast to log worsened Q1 results

SEOUL, March 22 (Yonhap) -- Major South Korean companies are likely to see their
first-quarter earnings worsen sharply, buffeted by a tumble in global trade and
stubbornly weak domestic demand, market watchers said Sunday.
In the wake of the global financial crisis, the world economy is expected to
shrink this year for the first time since World War II. The South Korean economy
is also forecast to post negative growth.
According to analysts, Samsung Electronics Co. will likely to post an operating
loss of up to one trillion won (US$710 million) for the January-March period due
to sluggish global demand and weak prices of chips and liquid crystal displays.
For the fourth quarter of last year, the electronics giant recorded an operating
loss of 740 billion won.
A market consensus of Samsung's first-quarter sales amounts to 16.9 trillion won
for the current quarter, compared with 17.1 trillion won for the same period a
year earlier.
Smaller rival LG Electronics Inc. is also projected to see its first-quarter
performance slacken.
LG Electronics is predicted to post 6.6 trillion won in sales, slightly down from
6.9 trillion won a year earlier, but its operating profit will likely tumble to
83.4 billion won from 564.2 billion won.
Hyundai Motor Co. and other carmakers are feared to post far worsened results for
the current quarter.
In the first two months of this year, the automakers sold 435,919 units during
the two-month period, down 30.9 percent from the 631,000 vehicles sold during the
same period a year earlier.
Steelmakers are no exception. Top steelmaker POSCO's sales are expected to rise
16.9 percent on-year to 7.9 trillion won for the first quarter, but its net
profit is likely to plunge 54.1 percent 472.8 billion won.
Market watchers said other major companies in oil-refining, retail and other key
industrial sectors will inevitably see their first-quarter performances
deteriorate drastically, hit by the global economic slowdown.
(END)