Samsung Biologics Co. on Wednesday reported its first-quarter net profit of 179.4 billion won (US$131 million), up 26.5 percent from a year earlier. The company said in a regulatory filing that it posted 221.3 billion won in operating profit for the quarter, compared with 191.7 billion won a year ago. Sales rose 31.3 percent to 946.9 billion won. The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 177.4 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. Source: Yonhap News Agency