SAMSUNG Electronics has said it expects record profits in the three months to the end of September after seeing strong sales of its Galaxy smartphones.

The South Korean company, which makes electronic goods such as televisions as well as semiconductors, has forecast operating profits of £4.5bn, which is nearly double last year's figure and beats analyst expectations.

But the firm’s ongoing legal wrangles with US technology giant have cast a shadow over its strong performance which has been mainly driven by its smartphones

Samsung's higher-end Galaxy line of smartphones pits it directly against Apple's iPhone.

This has led to several separate legal disputes between the two smartphone market leaders in countries around the world.

In a court ruling in August, Samsung was ordered to pay more than $1bn in damages to Apple after Apple accused Samsung of violating several of its patents.

Samsung has now called for a retrial as it mulls over the likely size of the fines and the effect that the ruling will have on its future business.