Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday that its first-quarter operating profit likely rose two-point-seven percent from a year earlier.

The world's largest memory chip maker said its operating profit was expected to post six-point-four trillion won in the January-March period, slightly beating analysts' forecasts.

The operating profit slipped ten-point-six percent from the previous quarter, but grew by two-point-seven percent from a year earlier. 

Sales dropped eight-point-one percent to 55 trillion won in the first quarter, but expanded four-point-nine percent on-year. 

The COVID-19 crisis appears to have yet to hurt the tech giant's performance, but the firm is likely to see sharp drops in sales and operating profit in the second quarter amid growing uncertainties and the global spread of the virus.