SEOUL, Kumho Petro Chemical Co. said Tuesday its first-quarter operating profit sank 40.5 percent from a year earlier due to sluggish demand for petrochemical products. Its operating profit for the January-March period reached 78.6 billion won (US$57.9 million), compared with 132 billion won a year ago, according to the company in a regulatory filing. Its net profit fell 24.9 percent on-year to 102.5 billion won, and its sales also dropped 3.1 percent to 1.66 trillion won, the company added. The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 75.1 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. Kumho Petro Chemical attributed the on-year decline in operating profit to sluggish demand for its key petrochemical products worldwide. But the company noted its first-quarter earnings showed a rebound on a quarter-on-quarter basis, thanks to recovering sales of premium products. Its operating profit more than double d from the previous quarter's 35.1 billion won, and its sales rose 10 percent on-quarter. Breaking down its business segments, its synthetic resin business earned 322.2 billion won in sales, up 13 percent from a quarter earlier. Its operating loss narrowed to 1.4 billion won. In the synthetic rubber sector, the company posted 595.5 billion won in sales and 25.1 billion won in operating profit. Source: Yonhap News Agency