Samsung Electronics says first quarter operating profit likely rose 48 percent year-on-year

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Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> estimated on Friday its first-quarter operating profit rose 48 percent from a year earlier, beating expectations as strong memory chip prices likely padded margins.

Samsung, in a regulatory filing, said its January-March profit was likely 9.9 trillion won ($8.76 billion), compared with an average forecast of 9.4 trillion won from a Thomson Reuters survey of 18 analysts.

Revenue likely rose 0.4 percent from a year earlier to 50 trillion won, Samsung said.

The company did not elaborate on its performance and will disclose detailed earnings in late April.

(Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates)