Seoul: Amorepacific Corp., South Korea's leading cosmetics firm, announced a significant increase in its third-quarter net profit, which rose by 39.5 percent compared to the previous year. This growth is attributed to stronger sales in overseas markets, particularly in the Western hemisphere. According to Yonhap News Agency, Amorepacific's net profit for the July-September period reached 37.2 billion won (US$26.9 million), up from 26.6 billion won the previous year. The company's operating income for the same period was 65.2 billion won, reflecting a 277.7 percent increase on-year, and sales rose by 9.9 percent to 977.2 billion won. These earnings surpassed market expectations, as the average net profit estimate by analysts was 35.3 billion won, based on a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. Amorepacific attributed the positive performance to its global rebalancing efforts, which led to improved sales in the Americas and Europe. Sales in the American region do ubled in the third quarter, driven by the popularity of Amorepacific's flagship products and its affiliate skincare brand, COSRX. The company had acquired COSRX last year to counteract sluggish sales in China. Furthermore, sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa surged by over 300 percent, while sales in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding China, also experienced growth.