South Korean telecom giant KT Corp. on Monday reported a 45.6 percent surge in its third-quarter earnings, driven by a profit increase in its wireless business and affiliates such as BC Card.

Net profit came to 372.3 billion won ($340.9 million), compared with 255.7 billion won a year ago, the No. 2 mobile carrier and top fixed-line operator said in a regulatory filing.

Sales increased 30.6 percent on-year to 6.5 trillion won over the cited period, and operating profit gained 4.3 percent to 538.8 billion won.

The strong bottom line was attributed to a growth in the company’s wireless communications business. The company said accelerating growth in the long-term evolution business helped propel its profit.

KT, which was the latest among the country’s three mobile carriers to commercialize the faster network, provided service to 2.8 million LTE users as of end-October and plans to increase the number to 4 million by the end of the year, according to the company.

Meanwhile, the No. 2 mobile carrier said the incorporation of non-telecommunications affiliates, such as BC Card and KT Rental, helped lift its quarterly earnings.

In 2011, KT purchased a controlling stake in credit card firm BC Card as part of efforts to tide over stagnant growth in the saturated local mobile market. (Yonhap News)