Samsung's Image Faces A New Bruise

Until recently, investors in Samsung Electronics Co. have been most concerned about the sharp downturn in the company's core chip business, which is likely to hit earnings for much of next year.

Now, there is another looming concern: a potential bribery and accounting scandal involving the entire Samsung Group, the largest conglomerate in South Korea.

Yesterday, shares of 13 of the 15 listed Samsung companies, including flagship Samsung Electronics, plunged. The reason: South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun signed legislation triggering a government investigation of the conglomerate that could take months.

Analysts expect the government investigation, along with a separate investigation started earlier this month by the nation's top prosecutors, to distract Samsung and perhaps damage the image of its various companies and products.

The unfolding drama shows once again that Samsung Electronics -- known around the world mainly as a big maker of chips, television sets and cellphones -- and its corporate cousins have a second role in South Korean society. The Samsung companies are the country's biggest corporate citizens, objects of pride and envy subjected to intense scrutiny that few other companies face.

'People want to know the truth of the allegations implicating the nation's largest conglomerate,' Mr. Roh said at a news conference.

It is too early to tell whether investigators will uncover serious wrongdoing. The chief accuser, a former Samsung Group attorney, has revealed little evidence to back up the allegations of wrongdoing that he laid out over several news conferences earlier this month. The former attorney says Samsung paid bribes via special accounts set up in the names of certain executives, transferred money from various business units into the accounts and covered up the practice with help from outside attorneys and accountants.

Samsung Group representatives have issued detailed rebuttals and said its various companies and executives will cooperate with investigators.

Chu Woosik, Samsung Electronics's investor-relations chief, said he doesn't expect the investigations to have an immediate effect, particularly on planning and executive transitions that typically occur at the end of the year at the electronics company. But he said he does worry about the potential fallout on Samsung's image.

'I expect to spend time explaining that these allegations flying around are not based on hard facts and we haven't done anything wrong,' he said.

Much of South Korea's wealth is concentrated in just a few dozen large conglomerates, known as chaebol, such as the Samsung group. Watchdog groups and reform-minded politicians occasionally put pressure on the groups, leading to investigations and prosecutions. But major changes to the system have been difficult to implement, in part because other parts of South Korean society rely heavily on their largesse, the vast majority of which is spread legitimately.

Samsung Group, which includes 15 publicly traded companies and an additional 40 smaller affiliates, is led by Lee Kun-hee, son of its founder and now South Korea's wealthiest man. For several years, public scrutiny focused on Lee Kun-hee's efforts to transfer control of the group to his son, because the family owns only a small stake directly.

For Samsung Electronics, the news caused a 4.3% drop in its share value yesterday just as big investors and market analysts were arriving in Seoul for an annual conference with executives. At the meeting, scheduled to be held today, executives expected tough questions about the current downturn in the memory-chip business -- the steepest since 2001 -- even as cellphone and TV businesses performed strongly.

Investors are watching to see if company executives announce whether they will reduce capital spending on new chip factories next year, a step that would constrain industry supply and give a boost to chip prices and profitability. Mr. Chu said yesterday that executives hadn't made a final decision but aren't likely to cut back from this year's planned spending of 6.84 trillion won ($7.4 billion).

The fall in the memory-chip business, the company's largest by revenue and usually its biggest profit contributor, has led to a 12% drop in Samsung Electronics shares since the beginning of the year. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, meanwhile, is up almost 30% for the year. The split is unusual because investors have long considered Samsung a proxy for the country.

Earlier this year, the company's executives expected memory-chip prices to rebound around August or September, reviving profit margins. Instead, downward pressure has continued because of overcapacity and a slowdown in the pace at which consumers upgrade their electronics. Some analysts forecast the semiconductor division will slip into the red during the first quarter of next year.

直到不久前，三星电子(Samsung Electronics Co.)的投资者倍感不安的还是芯片制造主营业务的大幅下滑，因为这很可能会对明年多数时间内的收益造成影响。

现在又浮现出另一件令人担忧的事情：整个三星集团(Samsung Group)这家韩国最大的企业集团都陷入行贿和会计丑闻之中。

周二，三星旗下15家上市公司中，有13家的股票大幅下跌，其中包括旗舰公司三星电子。原因是韩国总统卢武铉(Roh Moo-hyun)签署了一份法案，允许政府对三星集团进行调查，此项调查可能会长达数月之久。

分析人士预计政府的此项调查，以及韩国最高检察机构本月早些时候开始进行的另外一项调查会令三星无法集中精力解决芯片业务下滑问题，还可能会损害三星旗下众多公司和产品的形象。

三星电子是世界闻名的芯片、电视机和手机生产商；除此之外，目前进行的调查再一次显示出三星电子及三星集团旗下的其他公司在韩国社会中还扮演着另外一个角色。三星集团旗下的众多公司是韩国最大的“公司公民”，是民族的骄傲和人们羡慕的对象，也不可避免地容易受到比其他公司更为严格的监督。

卢武铉在一场新闻发布会上说，人们希望了解对这家韩国最大企业集团的指控的真相。

调查人员是否会发现三星有严重违法行为现在还不得而知。曾任三星集团律师的首席原告在本月早些时候召开的数次新闻发布会上指出三星有违法行为，但并没有透露多少相关证据。他说三星通过以某些高层管理人员的名义开设的特别帐户行贿，将各业务部门的钱转到这些帐户上，并雇佣外部律师和会计师来掩盖这种行径。

三星集团的代表已发表了详细的反驳声明，并表示旗下各公司和管理层会配合调查人员的工作。

三星电子投资者关系负责人朱尤提(Chu Woosik)说，他预计调查不会产生立竿见影的影响，尤其是对年底阶段的公司规划和管理层更替事务而言。但他也表示确实担心调查可能会殃及三星的形象。

朱尤提说，“我将花些时间向外界解释，这些满天飞的指控是没有事实根据的，我们没有做错任何事。”

韩国的不少财富都集中在三星集团这样的少数几十家大企业集团手中。监管机构和改革派政治家偶尔会对这些集团施压，从而导致调查和起诉。但是对这一体系做出重大改革却一直困难重重，某种程度上是因为韩国社会的其他部分严重依赖于这些集团的慷慨解囊，而其中绝大部分款项的捐赠都是合法的。

三星集团包括15家上市公司和另外40家较小的公司。集团董事长李健熙(Lee Kun-hee)目前是韩国第一富豪，其父为集团创始人。过去数年中，舆论监督一直指向李健熙将集团控制权移交给自己儿子这件事上，因为该家族只直接拥有集团的少数股权。

大投资者和市场分析师周二抵达首尔参加拟于次日召开的管理层年度会议。正值此际，传出调查三星集团的消息，导致三星电子股票周二下跌4.3%。即使三星电子的手机和电视机业务表现出色，但在这次会议上，管理层预计将被问及目前内存芯片业务下滑这个棘手的问题──这是自2001年以来下滑最严重的一次。

投资者们在密切关注公司管理层是否会宣布削减明年用于新芯片生产厂的资本支出；如果这样做的话，供应量会受到限制，带动芯片价格上涨，从而提高公司的盈利能力。朱尤提周二表示，管理层还未作出最后决定，但不太可能削减今年计划的6.84万亿韩圆（合74亿美元）的预算。

内存芯片业务在三星电子中收入位居首位，利润常常也是最大的一块。该业务的下滑已导致三星电子目前股价较年初累计下跌12%，而同期韩国综合指数则上涨近30%。两者之间背道而驰的现象非同寻常，因为投资者一直以来都把三星看作是韩国的象征。

今年早些时候，三星电子的管理层还预计内存芯片价格会在8、9月时出现反弹，公司利润率也会因此上升。但因为产能过剩以及消费者对电子产品更新换代的速度减缓，芯片业务一直面临着下滑压力。一些分析人士预测该公司的半导体部门明年第一季度将出现亏损。

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