SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) reported fourth-quarter profit that rose 130% from a low base, confirming it had missed earlier estimates due to slowing memory chip demand and extra costs as it works towards providing high-end chips to Nvidia ( NVDA ).

Samsung said that in the first quarter of 2025, overall earnings improvement may be limited due to weakness in the semiconductors business.

The world's largest memory chip maker said on Friday that operating profit rose to 6.5 trillion won ($4.49 billion) in October-December, up from 2.82 trillion won a year earlier when the memory chip industry was still struggling with its worst downturn in decades.

The profit was down 29% from the previous quarter.

Samsung's fourth-quarter operating profit was in line with the preliminary figure of 6.5 trillion won the company reported earlier this month.

Shares in Samsung were down 2.2% in early trade, versus a 1% drop in the wider market.

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