BGF Retail Co. on Thursday reported its first-quarter net income of 23.4 billion won (US$17 million), down 15.5 percent from a year earlier.

The company said in a regulatory filing that operating income for the January-March period fell 11.9 percent on-year to 32.6 billion won. Sales increased 5.6 percent to 1.95 trillion won.

The earnings fell short of market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 26.9 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Source: Yonhap News Agency