The first-quarter earnings outlook for South Korea's listed firms remains cloudy due to economic uncertainties, such as a weaker Japanese yen, but major players are expected to see improvement in their bottom lines on their market dominance, data showed Thursday.
  

The combined operating profit estimate for 177 listed companies was reduced by 0.34 percent for the first quarter as of Tuesday from the beginning of the year, according to an analysis by financial information provider FnGuide.
  

The earnings downgrade compares to a 4.4 percent cut during the same period of last year and a 3.8 percent reduction in 2013.
  

"Analysts had low expectations about first-quarter earnings, but some companies are widely expected to report better-than-estimated results for the first quarter," said Jung Dong-hue, an analyst at Shinyoung Securities.
  

The outlook for the IT sector improved sharply this year as top smartphone maker Samsung Electronics Co. and other leading firms released fourth-quarter earnings that were higher than anticipated.
  

The first-quarter earnings forecast for Samsung Electronics was upped by 11.17 percent, while that for LG Display Co., a major panel maker, was raised by 25.3 percent.
  

Samsung's fourth-quarter results showed an operating profit of 5.29 trillion won ($4.82 billion), down 36.4 percent from a year ago but 30.24 percent better than the previous quarter.
  

The data also showed that the first-quarter earnings outlook for the top 30 players in terms of market capitalization was raised 1.4 percent from the start of the year.
  

"Major firms' fourth-quarter performance was roughly in line with market expectations and that means there will be no sharp revisions of earnings outlook down the road," said Yeom Dong-chan, an analyst at LIG Investment & Securities Co.
  

The analyst said it is very positive to see continued improvement in the country's IT firms' performance, which would boost the overall corporate earnings outlook. (Yonhap)