Lotte Fine Chemical Co. on Monday reported its first-quarter net income of 83.4 billion won (US$60.6 million), down 55 percent from a year earlier.

The company said in a regulatory filing that operating income for the January-March period fell 74.3 percent on-year to 10.8 billion won. Revenue decreased 23.9 percent to 399.4 billion won.

The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 29.5 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Source: Yonhap News Agency