Seoul  - South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc on Friday reported its first quarterly profit in two years thanks to rising prices for computer chips.

After reporting seven-straight quarters of losses, the world's second-largest computer-memory chipmaker posted net income of 245.4 billion won (207 million dollars) in the third quarter. In the same quarter a year ago, it had reported a loss of 1.65 trillion won.

Sales rose 15 per cent from a year ago and 26 per cent from the second quarter to 2.12 trillion won, Hynix said.

However, the profit was less than analysts had predicted as Hynix's cost-cutting measures failed to snip as deep as expected.

Its profit increase came after chipmakers reduced production, cutting an oversupply on the market and causing prices to rise.

The average sales price of its dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips used in computers rose 26 per cent from the second to the third quarter, Hynix said.

Prices for its NAND flash memory chips, used in digital equipment like cameras, rose 4 per cent, the company said.

The news of profit at Hynix came after the South Korean conglomerate Hyosung Corp last month announced its wish to acquire a 28-per-cent stake in Hynix from Hynix's creditors, which are looking to sell it.

The banks saved Hynix from collapse eight years ago after a dramatic plunge in DRAM prices. (dpa)