SEOUL, KOREA - Samsung Electronics’ first-quarter performance satisfied the lowered market expectations. However, given the one-off expense for special bonuses and the increase in seasonal marketing expenses for the fourth quarter of last year, this year’s first-quarter results implied that its operating profit declined by about 1 trillion won.

In particular, its sales marked a 10-percent decline in the first quarter, indicating that the lingering concerns about possible deterioration of its wireless business are slowly materializing.

Samsung Electronics announced on April 8 that it, on a consolidated basis, posted sales of 53 trillion won and operating profit of 8.4 trillion won for the first quarter of this year. Compared to a year ago, sales rose 0.25 percent but operating profit fell 4.33 percent. The first-quarter operating profit was 1.1 percent higher than 8.31 trillion won recorded in the fourth quarter of last year when the market started showing worries over its performance.

Considering that Samsung spent 800 billion won in one-off expense to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its New Management initiative in the fourth quarter of last year, the first-quarter operating profit was far lower than that of a quarter ago.