Seoul: Lotte Shopping on Monday reported its first-quarter net profit of 143.9 billion won (US$98.3 million), marking a substantial increase of 694.1 percent from the same period the previous year. The retail giant revealed these figures in a regulatory filing, highlighting a significant turnaround in its financial performance.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Lotte Shopping's operating income for the January-March period reached 252.9 billion won, representing a 70.6 percent increase compared to the previous year. Additionally, the company's sales experienced a rise of 3.6 percent, totaling 3.58 trillion won for the quarter.

The impressive earnings from Lotte Shopping surpassed market forecasts. Analysts, as surveyed by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency, had projected an average net profit estimate of 81.4 billion won for the period.