South Korea's top fixed-line operator, KT Corp., said Wednesday it remained in net loss in the first quarter from a heightened battle among mobile carriers and stronger monitoring by telecom authorities.

Net loss came to 40.9 billion won ($39.2 million) in the January-March period, improving from a net loss of 542.5 billion won in the previous quarter, the country's No. 2 mobile carrier said in a regulatory filing. It posted a net profit of 212.6 billion won in the first quarter of 2013.

Revenue edged down 4.2 percent on-year at 5.8 trillion won, while the company's operating profit plunged 58.6 percent to 152 billion won over the cited period.

In 2013, the company had posted a net profit of 181 billion won, down 83.6 percent from the previous year. Revenue fell 0.2 percent to 23.8 trillion won over the cited period, while operating profit shed 27.7 percent to 873.9 billion won. (Yonhap)