Samsung Electronics tips profits to leap 50%

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics said Friday it expects profits to soar by nearly 50 percent in the December quarter, as strong memory chip prices push earnings to their highest point in three years despite a smartphone recall fiasco.

The world’s largest memory chip maker estimated its operating profit in the October-December period at 9.2 trillion won ($7.8 billion), up 49.8 percent from a year earlier.