[THE INVESTOR] The stake of foreign investors in
Samsung Electronics hit the highest level on June 16 in around seven months.
The shares owned by foreign investors accounted for 50.7 percent -- the highest since Nov. 2, 2015, according to Korean Exchange, the sole securities exchange operator.
Despite increasing fears of the UK’s exit from the European Union, they bought 560 billion won (US$447 million) worth of Samsung shares from June 1 to 16.
The share price jumped to 1.4 million won in recent days after dropping to the 1.1-million-won range in December last year. The Samsung stock closed at 1,426,000 won on June 17.
The tech giant posted 5.25 trillion won in net profit in the first three months with the operating profit and revenue standing at 6.68 trillion won and 49.7 trillion won, respectively.
The operation profit in the first quarter increased by 62.9 percent from the previous month.
Many investment firms have painted a rosy picture for the tech firm’s business performance in the second quarter.
Nomura Securities predicted that “the Korean tech firm will be able to achieve another earnings surprise in the second quarter,” thanks to decrease in costs for marketing and research and development, increased profits for smartphones due to favorable foreign-exchange conditions.
The Tokyo-headquartered investment firm expects the Korean electronics firm to lodge 7.7 trillion won in operating profit.
By Kim Young-won (
wone0102@heraldcorp.com)