Seoul: South Korean builder DL E and C on Thursday reported its first-quarter net income of 160.1 billion won (US$107.9 million), marking an impressive 429.5 percent increase from the same period last year.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the construction company disclosed in a regulatory filing that its operating profit for the January-March period rose 94.3 percent year-on-year to 157.4 billion won. However, the company experienced a 4.6 percent decline in revenue, which totaled 1.72 trillion won.

Despite the dip in revenue, the earnings surpassed market expectations. Analysts had projected an average net profit estimate of 82.1 billion won, as determined by a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data arm of Yonhap News Agency.