Seoul: Shinsegae Inc., the operator of South Korea's second-largest department store chain, announced a third-quarter net profit of 48.3 billion won (US$33.2 million), marking a 31.9 percent increase from the previous year.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing that its operating profit for the July-September period climbed 7.3 percent year-on-year to 99.8 billion won, while revenue rose 6.2 percent to 1.63 trillion won. These earnings surpassed market expectations, as analysts had projected an average net profit of 27.2 billion won, based on a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data division of Yonhap News Agency.