2008-07-25 03:25:04 -

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Samsung Electronics said Friday that second-quarter net profit grew 51 percent from the same period last year, amid strong performance in flat panels and mobile phones.
Samsung earned 2.14 trillion won (US$2.12 billion) in the three months ended June 30, the company said in a regulatory filing and press release.
Sales

during the quarter rose 24 percent to 18.14 trillion won (US$18 billion).
«We posted very strong results,» Chu Woo-sik, executive vice president of investor relations, told analysts on a conference call, despite what he described as a tough economic environment.
Samsung also said it sold 45.7 million mobile phone handsets in the second quarter. Sales for the first half totaled 92 million, an increase of more than 20 percent from the same period last year, Samsung said.

Samsung Electronics Co. is the world's biggest manufacturer of memory chips and flat screen televisions and ranks second behind Finland's Nokia Corp. in mobile phones.