Seoul: SK Innovation Co. on Wednesday reported a net loss of 125.6 billion won (US$88.4 million) for the first quarter, continuing its negative financial performance compared to the same period last year.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the company revealed in a regulatory filing that it experienced an operating loss of 44.6 billion won during the January-March period, a significant downturn from the 624.7 billion won profit recorded a year earlier. Despite these losses, SK Innovation managed to achieve a 12.2 percent increase in revenue, totaling 21.14 trillion won.

The company's reported loss was notably 70.6 percent lower than the average estimate, as indicated by a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. This suggests that while SK Innovation remains in the red, the financial outcome was less severe than analysts had anticipated.