Hyundai Steel Co., South Korea's No. 2 steelmaker, said Tuesday it swung to the black in the first quarter from a year earlier on strong sales amid the global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the three months that ended March 31, Hyundai Steel posted a net profit of 219.9 billion won ($197.8 million), shifting from a loss of 115.4 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

The company said price hikes of its products gave a boost to the quarterly bottom line on strong demand for steel used in cars, ships and construction.

Operating profit for the January-March quarter came to 303.9 billion won, also shifting from an operating loss of 29.7 billion won a year earlier, the company said.

The operating profit was 70.0 percent higher than the average estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Sales rose 5.6 percent on-year to 4.92 trillion won.

Shares in Hyundai Steel jumped 9.04 percent to 56,700 won on the Seoul bourse, outperforming the broader Kospi's 0.07 percent loss. (Yonhap)