Seoul: LG Uplus Corp., a major mobile carrier in South Korea, on Thursday reported its fourth-quarter net profit of 80.6 billion won (US$55.4 million), turning from a loss of 115.3 billion won a year earlier.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the company said in a regulatory filing that operating income for the October-December period rose 19.9 percent on-year to 170.5 billion won. Sales increased 2.5 percent to 3.84 trillion won.

The earnings fell short of market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 96.3 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.