The world’s biggest maker of Memory Chips and the flagship subsidiary of the sprawling Samsung group has recovered from a series of setbacks to post record profits in recent quarters. South Korean telecoms giant Samsung Electronics said Thursday its first-quarter net profits soared by more than half thanks to strong demand for memory chips and its latest high-end smartphone.

The firm faced an embarrassing global recall of the Galaxy Note 7 device over exploding batteries in 2016. The global launch of its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S9, as well as strong demand for chips used for smartphones and cryptocurrency mining has contributed to the rise in profitability.

Last year its vice-chairman Lee Jae-yong, scion of Samsung’s founding family, was jailed for his part in the sprawling corruption scandal that brought down president Park Geun-hye ..