MOSCOW, June 17 -- OAO Chelyabinsk Zinc, Russia's largest producer of the metal, swung to a profit in the first quarter from a loss a year earlier.

Net income was 458 million rubles ($14.7 million) from a loss of 224 million rubles in the first quarter of last year, the company said in a statement today. Sales rose 72 percent to 2.68 billion rubles.