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SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Yonhap) -- Shinsegae Inc., the operator of South Korea's major department store chain, said Tuesday its second-quarter net profit jumped nearly 13-fold from a year earlier on robust sales at its department stores and duty-free business.

Net profit for the three months that ended in June surged to 107 billion won (US$75.7 million) from 8.31 billion won in the same period last year, the company said in a press release.

"Robust sales in the department store division and increased shareholding gains from its trading and fashion affiliates propped up the quarterly bottom line," a company spokesperson said.

In particular, Shinsegae International and Shinsegae DF swung to profits, helped by strong cosmetics sales and increased sales of luxury brands, respectively, the company said.

Operating profit more than doubled to 167.1 billion won in the second quarter from 75.3 billion won a year ago.

Sales rose 7.97 percent to 1.78 trillion won from 1.69 trillion won during the same period.

For the first six months of the year, net income nearly tripled to 252.34 billion won from 85.4 billion won in the year-ago period.

Operating profit, meanwhile, jumped 75 percent from a year earlier to 364.96 billion won on sales of 3.63 trillion won, up 7.97 percent from a year earlier.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr

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