Hanwha Solutions said Tuesday that its net profit in the first quarter surged 500 percent on-year to 385.2 billion won ($344.1 million), a record quarterly figure.

Revenue increased 6.9 percent to 2.4 trillion won and operating profit spiked 52.4 percent to 254.6 billion won in the same period.

“The record performance was propelled by a booming petrochemical business and the liquidation of some Galleria department store buildings,” a company official said.

Hanwha Solutions was launched in January last year by the three-way merger of Hanwha Q Cells, Hanwha Chemical and Hanwha Advanced Materials. In December, the company further merged with department store chain Hanwha Galleria and construction unit Hanwha City Development.

Hanwha Solutions‘ chemical division saw its revenue jump 50.3 percent to 1.24 trillion won and operating profit soar 300.6 percent to 254.8 billion won thanks to growing demand for packaging materials at home and abroad.

Q Cells, the firm’s solar division, suffered a 17.8 percent drop in revenue to 744.7 billion won and swung to an operating loss of 14.9 billion won due to rising logistics fees and raw material prices.

Advanced materials division posted a 18.4 percent increase in revenue to 225.5 billion won and swung to operating profit of 7.2 billion won.

By Kim Byung-wook (kbw@heraldcorp.com)