POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo / Courtesy of POSCO

POSCO Holdings, the holding company of Korea's top steelmaker, said Monday that its first-quarter net profit soared 68 percent from a year earlier on the back of a strong performance by its non-steelmaking affiliates and higher steel prices.

Its net profit stood at 1.9 trillion won ($1.52 billion) on a consolidated basis in the January-March period, compared with 1.1 trillion won a year earlier, the company said.

Its first-quarter operating income rose 43.9 percent year-on-year to 2.3 trillion won, while sales rose 32.8 percent to 21.3 trillion won.

In March this year, POSCO launched a holding company to better nurture its non-steelmaking businesses, such as battery materials and hydrogen.

In January, shareholders of POSCO approved a plan for the steelmaker to transform into a holding company by splitting it into two business entities.

After the breakup, POSCO Holdings focuses on charting out future business, research and development, and investment.

The steelmaking business remains named POSCO, which is wholly owned by POSCO Holdings.

The steelmaker's affiliates, such as POSCO Chemical and POSCO Energy, are under the wing of the holding firm.

The steelmaker attributed the robust performance to firm demand from automakers, shipbuilders and construction companies, and an increase in prices of key products that offset a rise in the cost of raw materials, such as iron ore. (Yonhap)