CJ CheilJedang Q1 net rises 19 pct on brisk sales

SEOUL, April 28 (Yonhap) -- CJ CheilJedang Corp., South Korea's largest food company, said Thursday that its earnings rose 19 percent in the first quarter from a year ago thanks to strong sales.
Net income reached 90.4 billion won (US$84.3 million) in the January-March period, compared with 76 billion won a year ago, CJ CheilJedang said in a regulatory filing.
Sales surged 20.3 percent on-year to 1.62 trillion won in the period, while operating profit fell 10.3 percent to 108.5 billion won.
The first-quarter figures include performances from CJ CheilJedang and its overseas units.
Shares of CJ CheilJedang dropped 2.54 percent to finish at 230,500 won on the Seoul bourse.
Despite the sluggish operating profit, non-operating profit stood at 12.4 billion won, a more than three-fold gain from a year ago, helped by the South Korean won's ascent against the U.S. dollar, the company said.
Sales of the company's life-science division rose 3.1 percent on-year to 466.8 billion won and the food sector posted 898.4 billion won in sales, up 15.9 percent from a year ago.
In particular, the company saw sales of its feed division more than double to 261 billion won.
ksnam@yna.co.kr