Samsung extends losses, down 5 pct after Q2 result

SEOUL, July 25 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics tumbled more than 5 percent after the firm reported weaker-than expected net earnings for the second quarter Friday, with prospects for the second half increasingly dim.

Samsung Elec's April-June net profit rose 51 percent to 2.14 trillion won, lower than analyst estimates of 2.30 trillion won.

The world's largest memory chip maker also told a conference call that visibility for the memory chip market outlook was "quite low."

"Earnings from the memory chip sector came out far lower than the market had expected, and look set to be dull for a while," said Kim Gee-soo, an analyst at Goodmorning Shinhan Securities.

"Samsung's LCD unit, which has performed strongly, is set to face a slowdown from the second half as LCD panel prices fell sharply from June," Kim said, adding that shares were unlikely to rise above 600,000 won unless the firm saw a meaningful recovery in its memory chip unit.

Shares in Samsung Elec were trading 5.37 percent lower at 581,000 won at 0445 GMT.

(Reporting by Park Jung-youn; editing by Jonathan Hopfner)