SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics said on Friday it expected limited first-quarter earnings growth due to weak memory chip business conditions, as it continues to work towards providing high-end chips to Nvidia.

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

The world's largest memory chip maker confirmed on Friday that operating profit rose to 6.5 trillion won ($4.49 billion) in the fourth quarter, 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, but in line with the preliminary fourth-quarter figure the company reported earlier this month.

Operating profit in Samsung's mobile phone business fell 22% to 2.1 trillion won in the fourth quarter from a year earlier. Its chip division swung to an operating profit of 2.9 trillion won from a year earlier, but that was down by about 26% from the preceding quarter.

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

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