Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., a major shipping firm here, said Monday that its operating loss narrowed in the first quarter from the previous quarter.

The operating loss came to 131 billion won ($117 million) in the January-March period, compared to an operating loss of 163 billion won the year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales rose 7 percent on-year to 1.3 trillion won over the cited period, it said.

Hyundai Merchant handled 958,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) containers in the first quarter, up 37 percent from the previous year, with shipments to the American and Asian regions spiking 41.4 percent and 62.4 percent on-year during the cited period, it added.

Hyundai Merchant expects freight rates to improve down the road on seasonal factors.

"Entering the third and fourth quarters of the year, we will see an improvement (in the company's performance)," Hyundai Merchant chief executive Yoo Chang-keun said in a press briefing.

The top executive said Hyundai Merchant's stable profit is eyeing next year on the back of improved business conditions, reduced costs and realigned routes.

Hyundai Merchant closed at 8,850 won on the Seoul bourse, down 3.28 percent from the previous session's close. (Yonhap)