Seoul: BGF Retail Co. announced on Thursday a substantial decrease in its first-quarter net profit, recording 13.4 billion won (US$9.6 million), which represents a 42.7 percent decline from the previous year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing that its operating profit for the quarter stood at 22.6 billion won, down from 32.6 billion won a year ago. Despite the decline in profits, the company's sales saw a modest increase of 3.2 percent, reaching 2.01 trillion won.
The reported earnings fell short of market expectations, as analysts had projected an average net profit of 20.2 billion won, based on a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data arm of Yonhap News Agency.