SEOUL-- Shinhan Financial Group Co. on Friday reported its first-quarter net income of 1.42 trillion won (US$1.1 billion), up 16.6 percent from a year earlier.

Operating income for the January-March period was 1.9 trillion won, up 13.3 percent from a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Revenue fell 2.7 percent to 13.96 trillion won.

The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 1.21 trillion won, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Source: Yonhap News Agency