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Samsung Electronics said net profit surged more than six-fold in the first quarter to a record high on strong demand and higher prices for memory chips as well as increased sales of mobile phones and flat screen televisions.
Samsung earned 3.99 trillion won ($3.59 billion) in the three months ended March 31, the company said Friday. It recorded net profit of 582 billion won the year before.
The latest figure was an all-time high for the company, said spokesman Jason Kim, surpassing 3.81 trillion won in the third quarter of last year.
The company also said sales in the first quarter totaled 34.64 trillion won. That was 20.8 percent higher than the 28.67 trillion won reported a year earlier.
Samsung Electronics Co. is a major force in the global technology industry, ranking as the largest manufacturer of computer memory chips, flat screen televisions and liquid crystal displays. It also stands No. 2 globally in mobile phones behind Finland's Nokia Corp.
Samsung said in a release that sales in its semiconductor business jumped 57 percent to 8.2 trillion won in the first quarter. The company said tight supply and strong demand caused prices for DRAM, or dynamic random access memory, chips to rise. DRAM are used mostly in personal computers.
The company also cited steady demand for NAND flash memory chips in line with consumer purchases of smart phones and mobile application products. NAND are used in devices such as digital cameras, music players and smart phones.
"Strong demand for mobile products continued despite weak seasonality," Samsung said in presentation materials for investors.
In mobile phones, Samsung sold 64.3 million of the devices in the first quarter, up 40 percent from the year before. It predicted demand will increase in the current second quarter in line with the global economic recovery.
The company also sold 8.4 million flat screen TVs in the first quarter, an increase of 47 percent from the year before. Samsung said it expects demand to grow 34 percent in the second quarter.
"In the TV business, we launched aggressive marketing activities focusing on 3D TV as well as LED TV," Robert Yi, Samsung's head of investor relations, told analysts on a conference call. "As a result, our shipment and profit margin improved significantly year on year."
Investors cheered the results, sending Samsung shares 2.9 percent higher to close at 849,000 won. Samsung's stock price, which surged 77 percent in 2009, hit a record high of 870,000 won on April 5 this year.
Asian stocks advanced Friday, following overseas markets higher as signs the U.S. economy was healing and debt-ridden Greece might soon be rescued eased anxiety about the global outlook. European shares gained in early trade.
The broad move higher in Asia marked a turnaround after a string of losses. The dollar was slightly lower against the euro and stronger against the yen, and oil prices climbed above $86 a barrel.
Helping sentiment was an overnight rise in the U.S., where stocks rallied after a series of upbeat earnings reports and a reading on unemployment that suggested layoffs might be slowing. The news gave investors reason to hope a rebound in the world's largest economy, a key Asian export market, was sustainable.
At the same time, investors seemed less agitated about Europe's debt problems. Thursday brought reassurances from European leaders they were working quickly to approve a bailout for Greece so it can make good on its debt payments, one of which comes due in just several weeks.
Markets worldwide plummeted earlier this week after fiscally troubled countries Greece, Portugal and Spain saw their credit ratings cut — an escalation of the region's debt crisis that that spread fears of a contagion that could weigh on the economy.
Long Xiaobo, managing director of Cypress House Asset Management in Hong Kong, said Europe's debt problems remained a key risk and its economic recovery was anything but certain right now. In Asia, however, faster economic growth could continue to lure investors and buoy the region's stocks in the coming months.
"I think Asia's markets are likely to extend their good performance for some time. The economic outlook here is still robust and there's a lot of liquidity," said Long, whose investment fund focuses on equities.
Europe added to its gains in early trade, with Britain's FTSE 100 rising 0.4 percent, Germany's DAX climbing 0.7 percent France's CAC-40 little changed. Wall Street futures pointed to a stronger open in the U.S.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average was up 132.61 points, or 1.2 percent, at 11,057.40.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.6 percent to 21,106.48 and South Korea's main benchmark added 0.8 percent to 1,741.56
Elsewhere, Australia's market rose 0.5 percent, India's Sensex was up 0.5 percent and Shanghai's index gained 0.1 percent.
As in the U.S., Asian companies also reported results that suggested a pickup in Shares in Samsung Electronics jumped 3 percent after the South Korean tech giant said net profit surged to a record in the first quarter, the result of stronger world demand for computers and gadgets.
In currencies, the dollar rose to 94.16 yen from 94.07 yen. The euro was up at $1.3288 from $1.3241.
Oil prices rose in Asia, with benchmark crude for June delivery up 84 cents to $86.01 a barrel. The contract rose $1.95 to settle at $85.17 on Thursday.
In the U.S., the Dow rose 122.05, or 1.1 percent, to 11,167.32, bringing its two-day advance to 175.33.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 15.42, or 1.3 percent, to 1,206.78, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 40.19, or 1.6 percent, to 2,511.92.
