Seoul: Celltrion Inc., a major South Korean biopharmaceutical company, on Thursday reported its fourth-quarter net profit of 527.9 billion won (US$362.6 million), up 124.1 percent from a year earlier.

According to Yonhap News Agency, operating profit for the October-December period was 475.2 billion won, up 141.9 percent from a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Revenue rose 25.1 percent to 1.33 trillion won.

The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 405 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.