Samsung Electronics says it's likely to post a record quarterly profit in the first quarter, presumably due to strong demand for its memory chips and smartphones. 

The South Korean tech giant said in a regulatory filing on Friday that its January-March operating profit is estimated at a record 15-point-six trillion won, up 57-point-six percent on-year. 

The first-quarter figure, which widely surpassed market expectations, represents a three percent increase from the current record set in the previous quarter.  

The market consensus was around 14-point-56 trillion won. 

According to the preliminary results, the firm's sales grew 18-point-seven percent to reach 60 trillion won in the first quarter, staying above the 60-trillion won mark for the fourth consecutive quarter.