Seoul: GS Engineering and Construction (E and C) Corp. announced a significant decline in its first-quarter net profit, reporting a figure of 12.3 billion won (US$8.6 million), marking a 91.2 percent decrease compared to the same period last year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the company's operating profit for the January-March period was 70.4 billion won, representing a slight drop of 0.2 percent from the previous year. Additionally, sales saw a minor decrease of 0.3 percent, totaling 3.06 trillion won during the same period.
The reported earnings did not meet market expectations, with analysts having projected a much higher net profit average of 55.6 billion won, as per a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data division of Yonhap News Agency.