Seoul: iM Financial Group on Monday reported its first-quarter net profit of 158.7 billion won (US$109.9 million), marking an increase of 40.5 percent from the same period last year.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the company revealed in a regulatory filing that its operating profit for the January-March period rose by 31.9 percent year-on-year, reaching 209.1 billion won. However, revenue saw a decrease of 13.7 percent, totaling 1.83 trillion won.

The company's earnings surpassed market expectations, as the average estimate of net profit by analysts was 141.5 billion won, based on a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data division of Yonhap News Agency.