Samsung Electronics Co., the world's top maker of memory chips, liquid crystal display (LCD) panels and TVs, estimated Thursday it had posted an operating profit of 2.9 trillion won (US$2.67 billion) for the January-March period.

   The preliminary estimate represents a 34.2 percent drop from an operating profit of 4.41 trillion won a year ago, Samsung said in a regulatory filing. It is also the third straight quarterly decline since its operating profit peaked in the second quarter last year.

   Samsung was forecast to have posted an operating income of 2.86 trillion won in the first quarter, according to the median estimate of 10 analysts polled by Yonhap News Agency.

   First-quarter revenue was estimated at 37 trillion won, up 6.8 percent from one year earlier, according to the company's earnings guidance. It did not provide figures for each of its four business divisions.

   Samsung, also the world's No. 2 mobile phone maker, plans to disclose its first-quarter earnings later this month. (Yonhap News)