Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a major shipyard here, said Thursday that its first-quarter earnings almost doubled from a year earlier on cost-cutting efforts and the delivery of high-priced ships.

Net profit reached 462 billion won ($409 million) in the January-March period, compared with a profit of 245 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating income also surged 90 percent on-year to reach 619 billion won, while sales dipped 1.9 percent to 10.08 trillion won over the cited period.

Hyundai Heavy said earlier it has so far clinched new orders worth $1.4 billion to build 15 ships this year, including 13 oil tankers.

In April alone, the shipyard bagged orders worth $420 million to build five ships.

For the year, the shipbuilding company aims at winning orders worth $4.3 billion. (Yonhap)