LG Innotek Co., an electronics parts manufacturer under South Korea’s LG Group, saw its operating profit surge by more than 21 percent in the first quarter on the back of its cost-cutting efforts.

The company disclosed Wednesday that it posted 176 billion won in operating profit for the January-March period, up 21.1 percent from the same period a year ago. The figure is above the brokerage consensus of 138.1 billion won.

Sales were down 0.97 percent at 4.3 trillion won during the cited period.

“Despite seasonally weak demand in the information technology (IT) industry and the global economic downturn, profitability improved thanks to the supply of high-performance premium products, internal cost improvements, and favorable exchange rate,” the company said.

Samsung Biologics Co. also disclosed Wednesday that it posted 221.3 billion won in first-quarter operating profit, up 15 percent from the same period last year, on sales of 956.9 billion won, up 31 percent.

The company achieved its highest ever performance in the first quarter, with the rapid increase in the capacity utilization rate of its fourth plant based on contract development and manufacturing organization business with major pharmaceutical companies,

Samsung Bioepis Co. also posted 280.1 billion won in first-quarter sales, up 31 percent from the same period last year, and an operating profit of 38.1 billion won, up 6 percent, thanks to increased sales of biosimilar products in major markets, including the U.S. and Europe.

Hanwha Ocean Co. announced that its operating profit for the first quarter stood at 52.9 billion won, turning around from an operating loss of 62.8 billion won in the same period last year.

Sales totaled 2.28 trillion won, up 58.6 percent from the same period last year. It also swung to a net profit of 51 billion won.

OCI Co. posted 38.8 billion won in operating profit in the first quarter, up 92.1 percent, on sales of 540.3 billion won, up 9.3 percent.

By Kim Jee-hee, Choi Hyun-jae, Seong Seung-hoon and Chang Iou-chung

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