South Korea's No. 2 retailer Shinsegae Inc. said Tuesday that its third-quarter net income steeply increased as its department store business got a boost from pent-up demand amid the extended coronavirus pandemic.

Net income came to 188.9 billion won ($160.3 million) on a consolidated basis in the July-September period, sharply up from a profit of 858 million won a year ago, according to a corporate regulatory filing.

Operating income rose 307.1 percent on-year to 102.4 billion won, and sales revenue increased 37.3 percent to 1.67 trillion won over the cited period.

The operating profit was 1.9 percent higher than the average market estimate, according to the survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Shinsegae attributed the sharper-than-expected earnings improvement to robust sales at its department stores.

Sales at Shinsegae Department Store jumped 15 percent to 509.6 billion won, and operating profit soared 81.1 percent to 72.7 billion won.

In particular, sales of international fashion brands and luxury goods grew 29.7 percent and 32.7 percent, respectively.

Shinsegae International, a fashion apparel retailer, saw its sales rise 4.9 percent to 350.2 billion won and operating profit more than double to 14.1 billion won.

Shinsegae DF, the duty-free affiliate of Shinsegae, registered sales of 796.9 billion won, up 82.3 percent, and its operating profit swung to the black at 22.9 billion won.

Shinsegae said its annual performance for this year may beat the figures in 2019, the previous record. (Yonhap)