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South Korea's listed firms saw a 25.4 percent on-quarter increase in their earnings in the third quarter on a faster-than-expected economic recovery, the bourse operator said Wednesday.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), the net income of 570 firms listed on the Seoul bourse totaled 19.3 trillion won, or 16.7 billion U.S. dollars, during the third quarter of 2009, up from 15.4 trillion won, or 13.3 billion U.S. dollars.
Local firms' total sales also marked a jump of 4 percent to 226.9 trillion won, or 196.4 billion U.S. dollars, while operating profit jumped 37.7 percent to 19.3 trillion won, or 16.7 billion U.S. dollars, according to the KRX.
"Listed companies saw their earnings continue to improve in the third quarter after they were hit by the economic slowdown in the first quarter," the exchange said in a statement.
The spike in earnings came as the South Korean economy made a better-than-expected growth rate of 2.9 percent in the third quarter.
The growth rate in the July-September period marked the fastest pace in more than seven years and continued the rise for the third consecutive quarter.
In the meantime, the nation's key index, KOSPI, has advanced 41 percent so far this year.