Hankook Tire & Technology Co. said Monday its first-quarter net profit jumped 53 percent from a year earlier on a base effect amid the extended COVID-19 pandemic.

Net profit jumped to 149.47 billion won ($133 million) for the three months that ended on March 31 from 97.66 billion won in the same period of last year, the company said in a statement.

"Corporate taxes were factored in the year-ago quarterly bottom line, but in this past quarter, there was not such a one-off cost factor," a company spokesman said by phone.

The company will focus on promoting high-end tire products and improving profitability at its domestic plants this year, the statement said.

Operating profit climbed 76 percent to 186.02 billion won in the first quarter from 106 billion won a year ago. Sales were up 13 percent to 1.62 trillion won from 1.44 trillion won during the same period.

Hankook Tire earns over 80 percent of its total revenue from abroad.

It has eight plants -- two in South Korea, one in Hungary, one in the United States, three in China and one in Indonesia -- whose combined capacity reaches 102 million tires. (Yonhap)