Samsung Biologics Co., the biotech arm of South Korea's Samsung Group, said Wednesday its net profit jumped 26.5 percent on-year in the first quarter thanks to strong sales. Its net income came to 179.4 billion won (US$131 million) in the three months ending in March, compared with 141.8 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales soared 31.3 percent on-year to 946.9 billion won, a record high for the January-March period, and operating profit rose 15 percent to 221.3 billion won, also the highest for the period. The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 177.4 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. The company said its sales from its fourth plant, which began to fully operate last year, increased sharply and its biosimilar products showed strong performance in the U.S. and Europe. In the first quarter, the company also signed contract manufacturing organiz ation deals with global biopharmaceutical firms, including UCB and MSD. Shares in Samsung Biologics lost 0.13 percent to 790,000 won on the main Seoul bourse Wednesday, underperforming the broader Korea Composite Stock Price Index's 2.01 percent jump. The earnings results were released after the stock markets closed. Source: Yonhap News Agency