Seoul: Hana Financial Group on Friday reported its fourth-quarter net profit of 577.6 billion won (US$401.9 million), marking a 10.8 percent increase from the same period last year.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing that its operating income for the October-December period experienced a 48 percent increase on-year, reaching 890.4 billion won. However, the company's sales saw a decrease of 39.8 percent, totaling 17.14 trillion won.

The earnings surpassed market expectations, with the average estimate of net profit by analysts standing at 552.7 billion won, based on a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.