S&P upgrades Samsung rating to 'A-plus' on brisk smartphone sales

Global credit appraiser Standard & Poor's on Thursday upgraded its rating on Samsung Electronics by one notch to "A-plus" on the back of brisk sales of its flagship smartphones that boosted financial profiles. S&P said in a statement that it has raised its long-term corporate credit and debt ratings on Samsung from "A" to "A-plus", noting that the outlook on the long-term corporate credit rating was stable. "The upgrade reflects our expectation that Samsung will maintain solid measures of financial performance over the next 24 months as a result of strong cash flow and conservative financial policies,"said Park JunHong, a credit analyst at S&P in Hong Kong. Samsung kept its record-breaking earnings due to solid demand for its flagship smartphones. Samsung's global market share of smartphones jumped from around 8 percent in 2010 to about 33 percent in the first half of 2013 on the back of the success of its Galaxy series. The rating company forecast that Samsung's good business diversification and strong market positions in other businesses such as semiconductors, display panels and consumer electronics should sustain the company's stable operating performance over the next one to two years. Samsung was also expected to maintain its conservative financial policies by keeping significant cash reserves and conservative dividend payouts, boosting the company's financial profiles, S&P said.