Seoul: Celltrion on Wednesday reported its first-quarter net income of 349.8 billion won (US$238.2 million), a surge of 222.9 percent from a year earlier.

According to Yonhap News Agency, operating income for the January-March period was 321.9 billion won, up 115.4 percent from a year ago, the biopharmaceutical company said in a regulatory filing. Revenue also rose 36 percent to 1.14 trillion won.

The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 246.8 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.