Seoul:<Text>

Hyundai Rotem Co., the defense and train subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, announced a significant increase in its first-quarter net profit, which soared by nearly 30 percent from the previous year, driven by robust sales.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the company's net profit for the three months ending in March reached 202.7 billion won (approximately US$136.7 million), marking a sharp 29 percent rise from the 157.1 billion won recorded during the same period last year. This impressive growth was detailed in a regulatory filing by the company.

The operating profit of Hyundai Rotem also saw an increase, rising 10.5 percent year-on-year to 224.2 billion won. Sales experienced a substantial spike of 23.9 percent, totaling 1.45 trillion won. The operating profit exceeded the average estimate by 2.9 percent, as per a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data arm of Yonhap News Agency. However, an estimate for net profit was not prov ided.

Hyundai Rotem attributed its strong performance to its Defense Solutions (DS) division, which led the growth with an operating profit of 218.8 billion won for the first quarter, reflecting a notable 22.2 percent increase from the previous year. The company also reported an order backlog of 29.9 trillion won at the end of March.