JB Financial Group Co. on Monday reported its first-quarter net income of 176.1 billion won (US$127.6 million), up 5.2 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit for the January-March period was 228 billion won, up 2.1 percent from a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Revenue rose 13.1 percent to 1.14 trillion won. The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 172.9 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. Source: Yonhap News Agency