KIEV, Ukraine — Early returns indicate that candy tycoon Petro Poroshenko has won Ukraine’s presidential election in the first round of balloting. 

With votes from more than a quarter of precincts counted early Monday, central election commission figures show Poroshenko with 54 percent. 

This is in line with exit polls, which had him getting nearly 56 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election.

Poroshenko, a billionaire businessman, earned the nickname “The Chocolate King” for the fortune he first amassed in the confectionary industry.

He is to take over the office once held by pro-Russia leader Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in February.