Tech firms lead Korea's solid Q3 earnings

SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's major listed firms saw their earnings gain ground in the third quarter, but an expected slump in the tech sector means fourth-quarter advances are unlikely to be as large, a financial information provider said Sunday.

The combined operating profit of the 313 listed companies is estimated to have
reached 19.4 trillion won (US$16.7 billion) in the July-September period, up 42.2
percent from three months earlier, FnGuide Inc. said. South Korea's corporate
earnings season will start on Tuesday, led by top chemical maker LG Chem Ltd.
The gain in the third-quarter earnings was mainly led by tech companies which
benefited from early signs of an economic rebound. Market leader Samsung
Electronics said on Tuesday in an earnings guidance that its third-quarter
operating profit will hit a record high of 4.1 trillion won thanks to strong
performances in chips and other key sectors.
But overall earnings growth is widely expected to slow in the final quarter of
this year, mainly because tech firms will likely face some difficulty due to the
Korean currency's recent gains against the dollar and rising marketing costs.
The total operating profit of listed firms is likely to fall 3.22 percent
on-quarter in the fourth quarter before declining 0.73 percent in the
January-March period of 2010, FnGuide said.
"This year, the Seoul bourse got a boost from the government's expansionary
policies to bolster the economic growth. In the first half of next year, the
stock market may undergo some correction. Tech and automaker shares may lose some
steam in the short term," said Lee Ki-bong, an analyst at Samsung Securities Co.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr