By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff reporter
This month, major industrial leaders plan to report their performance for the April-June period, with Samsung Electronics, POSCO and other heavyweights expected to show their strongest-ever quarter.
"It seems quite evident that leading Korean companies will post record earnings during the latest quarter,'' said Kim Hak-kyun, a chief analyst at Daewoo Securities.
Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest technology company by revenue, will announce its second quarter earnings on July 7.
Steel giant POSCO is set to announce its second quarter report on July 13, followed by Shinsegae, LG Hausys and LG Chem on July 14, 15 and 16, respectively, companies said.
In the third week of July, electronics majors including LG Display, Hynix Semiconductor, Glovis, Hyundai-Kia and SK Energy will report their quarterly earnings, as will leading banks.
LG Electronics, LG Innotek, Samsung SDI, KT, KCC and Hyundai Steel are planning to announce their results during the last week of July.
Samsung Electronics is widely forecast to exceed 5 trillion won in terms of operating profits for the first time, according to Fn Guidance, a securities tracker.
``If Samsung breaks the 5 trillion won operating profit level in the coming earnings guidelines, then that will give investors confidence,'' said Park Hyun, an analyst at Prudential Investment.
Park added big Korean firms' performances are closely linked to earnings of major American information and technology companies including Intel, Google, General Electric, Qualcomm, Microsoft and Apple, which are beginning to report their earnings.
For U.S. financial stocks, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citi Group and Goldman Sachs will report on July 15, 16 and 20, respectively.
According to various research firms, the markets for memory chips and LCDs have seen a steady recovery over the past few months thanks to the rising demand for consumer products.
``It's not strange that Samsung will write a new history in terms of operating profit. Also, driven by stronger chip demand, the world's No. 2 chipmaker Hynix will report over 1 trillion won for the second quarter,'' said Pak Young-joo, an analyst at Woori Investment.