Ant Group's quarterly profit nearly triples

China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's Ant Group reported a 192.9% rise in net profit to 7.59 billion yuan ($1.05 billion) in the three months to March 31, according to Reuters calculations based on Alibaba Group Holdings' earnings released on Friday.

The e-commerce giant reports profit from Ant one quarter in arrears.

The near tripling of Ant Group's profit from a year earlier was largely due to a 7.07 billion yuan fine levied on the group a year earlier by the Chinese government for violating laws concerning consumer protection and corporate governance, ending a years-long regulatory overhaul of the fintech company.

Both groups were co-founded by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma and Alibaba holds a 33% stake in Ant.

($1 = 7.2275 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Susan Fenton)