Samsung Electronics reported a record performance last year on the back of strong sales in its semiconductor business despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. 

The South Korean tech giant said on Thursday that its operating profit for last year came to 51-point-63 trillion won, up 43-point-45 percent from 2020. It's the third-largest annual operating profit and the largest after the global semiconductor boom of 2018.  

Annual sales increased 18-point-07 percent on-year to an all-time high of 279-point-six trillion won. 

In particular, Samsung logged 94-point-16 trillion won in sales in the semiconductor business last year, overtaking Intel as top chip seller for the first time in three years.  

For the fourth quarter, Samsung said it posted 76-point-56 trillion won in sales and ten-point-83 trillion won in net profit.