An exterior view of Samsung SDS Tower. [Samsung SDS]
An exterior view of Samsung SDS Tower. [Samsung SDS]

Samsung SDS posted strong third-quarter earnings, driven by simultaneous growth in its cloud and logistics businesses.

The company announced preliminary third-quarter sales of 3.77 trillion won ($2.82 billion) and operating profit of 241 billion won on Thursday. Sales rose 11.2 percent and operating profit 3.7 percent from the same period last year.

Cloud services led the IT services segment, which recorded sales of 1.68 trillion won, up 5.3 percent year on year. Within that segment, cloud sales climbed 18 percent to 796.1 billion won.

Among cloud businesses, the cloud service provider unit grew 15 percent while the managed service provider unit rose 25 percent.

The logistics segment posted sales of 2.09 trillion won, up 16 percent from a year earlier, as cargo volumes and freight rates in air and maritime logistics increased.

Building on the strong results, Samsung SDS said it aims to expand its AX (AI transformation) business.

In AI infrastructure, the company was selected as the preferred negotiating partner for a large-scale design-build-operate project of more than 200 megawatts being pursued by Pacific Asset Management.

Through the project, Samsung SDS plans to build a track record in design-build-operate work and continue expanding its data center business to improve profitability.

In the AI platform and solutions area, its AI collaboration solution Brity Works has accumulated 330,000 users in the public sector.

In cybersecurity, the company is strengthening partnerships — becoming the first South Korean company selected as a pilot partner in OpenAI's Daybreak Partner Program.

Samsung SDS also plans to continue expanding into new businesses and strategic investments, focusing on boosting its air cargo capabilities through moves including a full acquisition of Woojung Aviation, a specialist in air cargo consolidation.


sjpark@heraldcorp.com