Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH) said Thursday that its third-quarter net income rose 28.6 percent from a year earlier on gains from equity investment in subsidiaries.

Net profit came to 44.5 billion won ($38 million) in the July-September period, compared with 34.6 billion won in the same period a year ago.

"The strong performance came from a turnaround in the shipbuilding units and robust earnings of refining subsidiary," the company said in an emailed statement.

Operating profit for the July-September period was 301.8 billion won, up nearly threefold from a year ago, while revenue rose 59 percent to 7.27 trillion won.

HHIH's subholding company Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) swung to a net profit of 192.6 billion won in the third quarter from a net loss of 77 billion won a year ago.

Operating income was 141.7 billion won, up more than three times from a year ago, while sales rose 2.8 percent to 3.55 trillion won.

"The turnaround in the shipbuilding units was thanks to the South Korean won's weakness against the US dollar and increased prices of ships," HHIH said.

A weak won drives up the value of a shipbuilder's dollar-denominated earnings when converted into the local currency.

KSOE is the holding company of three shipbuilders -- Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. and unlisted Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries.

Hyundai Heavy Industries turned to a net income of 51.4 billion won in the July-September period, from a net loss of 73.8 billion won a year ago.

Operating profit came to 74.7 billion won in the period, up more than 15-fold from 5 billion won a year ago, with sales falling 1.3 percent to 1.9 trillion won.

Hyundai Mipo Dockyard reported 35.3 billion won in net profit, up more than twofold from a year ago.

Sales fell 2.6 percent to 619.4 billion won, while operating profit rose 19 percent to 34.3 billion won.

HHIH also said its unlisted refining subsidiary Hyundai Oilbank Co. contributed to its good third-quarter financial results, while posting 17.31 million won in operating profit. (Yonhap)