Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, said its first-quarter operating profit tripled as a drop in fuel prices helped cut costs.

Tepco, as Japan's biggest utility is known, posted an operating profit of ¥228.3 billion ($1.85 billion) for the three months ending June 30, compared with ¥70.7 billion a year ago, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

The company benefited from a more than 45 percent plunge in liquefied natural gas prices after crude oil fell to a record low. More than a third of Tepco's power generation capacity comes from LNG, compared with 14 percent from oil and 8 percent from coal.