Samsung said it will record a third-quarter profit growth, as a strong performance by semiconductors is likely to have offset the downward drag from the smartphone business.

The South Korean vendor said that operating profit in July-September will be KRW7.3 trillion ($6.3 billion), an increase of 78 per cent from KRW4.1 trillion in the year-ago period.

Analysts said Samsung benefited from weakness in the South Korean Won against the US dollar, which aided the semiconductor unit which makes most of its sales in dollars.

The performance will represent the company’s first quarterly profit gain in two years.

However, the smartphone business continues to struggle. Q2 profit in the mobile business fell, as sales of its flagship Galaxy S6 line performed below expectations. Analysts believe this performance carried over into the third quarter.

Samsung forecast that Q3 sales would be KRW51 trillion, an increase of 7.6 per cent against KRW47.4 trillion in the same period in 2014.

The company gave no further details about its performance in Q3, ahead of a full results announcement due late October.