Seoul: Hanwha Aerospace Co., a leading South Korean defense and aerospace company, reported on Monday that its third-quarter net income more than doubled compared to the previous year, driven by robust growth in both domestic and international defense sales.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Hanwha Aerospace's net profit for the July-September period reached 712.2 billion won (US$498.5 million) on a consolidated basis, marking a 123.8 percent increase from the previous year as stated in a regulatory filing by the company. The operating profit surged by 79.5 percent year-on-year to 856.4 billion won, while sales skyrocketed 146.5 percent to 6.48 trillion won.

These results surpassed market expectations, with analysts estimating an average net profit of 348.4 billion won based on a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data arm of Yonhap News Agency.

The company's land systems business achieved sales of 2.11 trillion won and an operating profit of 572.6 billion won, reflecting increases of 27 percent and 30 percent, respectively, compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the aerospace division saw sales of 604 billion won, a 26 percent increase from the previous year, driven by growing demand for aircraft engine component maintenance and aftermarket services.

Hanwha Aerospace also credited improved performances from its subsidiaries, Hanwha Ocean Co. and Hanwha Systems Co., as contributing factors to the enhanced quarterly results.

"The balanced growth between domestic and export defense businesses drove our solid third-quarter results," a Hanwha Aerospace official remarked. "We plan to leverage synergies with our subsidiaries across land, sea, and air defense systems to focus on securing new contracts in North America, Europe, and the Middle East."