Seoul: GS Engineering and Construction (E and C) Corp. on Friday reported its fourth-quarter net profit of 44.7 billion won (US$30.4 million), marking a significant turnaround from a loss of 31.5 billion won in the same period a year earlier.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the company revealed in a regulatory filing that its operating income for the October-December period surged by 41.5 percent year-on-year to reach 56.9 billion won. However, sales saw a decline of 11.9 percent, totaling 2.98 trillion won.

The reported earnings exceeded market expectations, as analysts had predicted an average net profit of 34.7 billion won, based on a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data division of Yonhap News Agency.