Seoul: Emart Inc., South Korea's leading discount retailer, on Tuesday reported its third-quarter net profit of 310.3 billion won (US$211.8 million), marking an increase of 194.4 percent from a year earlier.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing that it achieved an operating profit of 151.4 billion won for the quarter, compared to 111.7 billion won in the previous year. However, sales saw a decline of 1.4 percent, amounting to 7.4 trillion won.

The operating profit surpassed expectations by 5.5 percent, based on a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. There was no available estimate for the net profit in this period.