Samsung Electronics says third quarter profit likely down 60 percent on year

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> on Tuesday said operating profit likely fell 59.7 percent in the July-September period to 4.1 trillion won ($3.8 billion) as earnings from its market-leading smartphone division likely continued to shrink. The guidance, released ahead of final third-quarter figures due around end-October, was lower than a 5.6 trillion won mean estimate of 43 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It would mark the company's fourth consecutive quarter of declining operating profit. Samsung also said third-quarter sales likely fell 20.5 percent to 47 trillion won, compared with a mean forecast for 50.9 trillion won by the Thomson Reuter I/B/E/S survey. (Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates)