Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of smartphones, memory chips and flat screens, said Thursday that its third-quarter operating profit fell 60 percent from a year earlier.

  The operating profit reached 4.06 trillion won ($3.85 billion) in the third quarter, down 60.05 percent from a year earlier, Xinhua cited from a company statement. From three months ago, the profit sank 43.5 percent.
 
 It was for the first time in about three years that Samsung's operating profit fell below the 5 trillion-won level. The final figure was lower than the preliminary reading of 4.1 trillion won unveiled by the company earlier this month.
 
 The revenue declined 19.69 percent from a year earlier to 47.45 trillion won in the third quarter, falling below the 50 trillion won level for the first time in about two years.
 
 The net income retreated 48.79 percent to 4.22 trillion won in the cited period, and the operating margin was 8.6 percent in the third quarter, falling to the single-digit figure for the first time in around three years, the statement added.