South Korean retail giant Lotte’s duty-free operator Lotte Duty Free posted a rapid hike in overseas sales in its quarterly performance report, the firm said Thursday. 

According to the company, sales for the third quarter this year hit a record-high 4.1 trillion won ($3.6 billion), a 25 percent on-year increase. The sales from its downtown city stores and its overseas stores amounted to 3.8 trillion won and 164 billion won, respectively. 

Lotte Duty Free currently operates seven overseas stores in countries including Japan, Vietnam and Thailand. Sales at its overseas stores increased 65 percent from a year ago, and the outlet in Vietnam recorded an 800 percent jump in sales. 

The company said it expects 200 billion won worth of overseas sales by year-end. It will also soon open its first duty-free store in Australia. 

According to the company, its operating profit in the third quarter totaled 228 billion won, representing an on-year jump of 550 percent. The company said the number proves that the retailer is recovering from China’s apparent retaliation over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system here.

After withdrawing stores from Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport in February due to a sharp drop in sales, Lotte Duty Free is focusing on aggressive marketing for its online mall and its downtown outlets. Compared with last year, its sales online and at its downtown stores rose 42 percent and 50 percent, respectively, the company said. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)