SEOUL, Hankook Tire and Technology Co. on Tuesday reported its first-quarter net profit of 360.5 billion won (US$261 million), up 276 percent from a year earlier.

The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 398.7 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 190.9 billion won a year ago. Sales rose 1.1 percent to 2.12 trillion won.

The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 210.6 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Source: Yonhap News Agency