SEOUL, May 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's state power utility company Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) logged an operating profit for the seventh straight quarter due to higher electricity charges and lower fuel costs, the KEPCO said Tuesday.
Consolidated operating profit spiked 188.9 percent over the year to 3.75 trillion won (2.7 billion U.S. dollars) during the January-March quarter.
The power company continued to generate an operating profit since the third quarter of 2023, but the first-quarter profit missed market expectations of about 3.9 trillion won (2.8 billion dollars).
Revenue grew 4.0 percent from a year earlier to 24.22 trillion won (17.1 billion dollars) in the first quarter, while net income soared 296.3 percent to 2.36 trillion won (1.7 billion dollars).
Profit from electricity sales increased 4.7 percent in the cited quarter on the back of higher electricity bills, but fuel costs tumbled 18.7 percent amid the relatively stable energy prices.
Despite the consecutive quarterly profit, the accumulated operating loss since 2021 reached 30.9 trillion won (21.9 billion dollars), the KEPCO noted. ■
