Seoul: Meritz Financial Group Inc. on Wednesday reported its third-quarter net income of 656 billion won (US$466.3 million), up 13.1 percent from a year earlier. The financial group has shown a significant increase in its profitability despite a decrease in overall sales. According to Yonhap News Agency, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing that its operating profit for the July-September period increased by 11.5 percent year-on-year to reach 901.5 billion won. However, the sales figures for the same period saw a decline of 14.4 percent, totaling 10.9 trillion won.