Major securities companies in South Korea have lowered their first-quarter operating profit outlooks sharply for Samsung Electronics Co., citing bleak business conditions in key areas, including semiconductors and home appliances, data showed Sunday.

According to an analysis by industry tracker FnGuide of projections made by 24 brokerages as of Thursday, Samsung Electronics is expected to log 5.17 trillion won ($4.4 billion) in operating profit on average during the January-March period.

The market consensus for Samsung Electronics is down 14.1 percent from the 6.01 trillion won they predicted three months earlier.

Four brokerages even came out with bleaker outlooks in which they predicted Samsung Electronics' first-quarter operating profit will dip to the 4 trillion-won range.

Their average predictions for sales and net profit of the tech giant also fell 0.3 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively, to 48.23 trillion won and 4.29 trillion won, the data showed.

Despite relatively good business outlooks for its IT and mobile sectors, some analysts said that Samsung Electronics could see marked drops in other key businesses, including semiconductors, home appliances and display panels.

Last year, Samsung Electronics reported a 18.53 percent drop in net profit, which came to 19 trillion won. Its operating profit rose 5.55 percent from the previous year, but sales fell 2.69 percent over the same period. (Yonhap)