SEOUL, South Korea-Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. ended the year on a weak fourth quarter with a 2-percent drop in profits, but reported a profit for the year of $10 billion. The company said only nine companies in the world reported profits over $10 billion last year, mainly financial services and oil firms.
Samsung’s Telecommunication Network Business, which includes its mobile-phone operations, said it sold 86 million phones in 2004, up from the 56 million phones it sold in 2003. The division’s sales grew 33 percent to about $18.2 billion for the year, and its profits were $2.7 billion.
