Daewoo International Corp., a leading South Korean trading company, said Thursday that its net income more than tripled in the first quarter from a year ago, boosted by a sharp increase in profits from its equity investments.

Net income came to 24.9 billion won ($22.4 million) in the January-March period, compared with 7.6 billion won a year ago, the trading company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales, however, fell 10.8 percent to 4.07 trillion won in the same period, with operating profit dropping 22.5 percent to 43.58 billion won.

The figures were taken from the combined financial statements of Daewoo International and its subsidiaries.

“The stellar performance in the first quarter resulted from a soar in our equity investment profits,” the company said.

The profits from its investments in its units and other companies rose more than three-fold to 26.4 billion won in the first quarter, compared with 7.85 billion won a year ago. (Yomnhap News)