Samsung profits hit by the trade wars

Samsung’s quarterly profit more than halved after a global industry downturn and trade tensions hammered demand for its chips and high-end smartphones.

Korea’s largest company reported a less-than-expected 56% fall in operating income to about 6.5 trillion won (€4.9bn) in the June quarter — but that was helped by an unspecified one-time gain from a customer that analysts estimate could have topped €710m.