Seoul Oct 13 (IANS) Even as Samsung expects to post record profit its Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kwon Oh-hyun on Friday said he will step down from the position next year.
Kwon s tenure expires in March 2018 Yonhap news agency reported.
Indicating sharp recovery in earnings from last year s Note 7 fiasco the South Korean tech giant said its third-quarter operating profit was expected to triple compared to the previous year apparently on sound returns from its computer chip business.
"It is something I had been thinking long and hard about for quite some time. It has not been an easy decision but I feel I can no longer put it off " Kwon was quoted as saying.
"As we are confronted with unprecedented crisis inside and out I believe that time has now come for the company to start anew. With a new spirit and young leadership to better respond to challenges arising from the rapidly changing IT industry " he added.
Operating profit was estimated at 14.5 trillion won ($12.8 billion) compared with 5.2 trillion won tallied a year earlier the company said in a regulatory filing.
Kwon who also serves as the head of the device solution business has been working as de-facto head of the company and conglomerate following the imprisonment of the company s heir Lee Jae-yong.
The CEO added that Samsung Electronics is facing a grave situation despite it making record-breaking earnings.
"(The earnings) are based on investment made in the past. But (at the moment) we are hard pressed to read future trends and find new growth engines " Kwon said.
Samsung did not announce the performance estimates of each business division although the chip business is anticipated to have played a key role in the record-beating report.
The guidance report indicates the overall operating margin for the third quarter came to 23.4 per cent also setting a new record.
The company is set to release its final earnings report later in October.
--IANS
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