Naver Corp., South Korea’s top Internet portal operator, said Thursday its third-quarter net profit almost doubled from a year earlier as overseas sales, aided by its mobile messenger service LINE, sharply increased.

Net profit reached 143 billion won ($136 million) in the July-September period, compared with 74.4 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating income came to 189 billion won during the third quarter, rising from 101 billion won the previous year.

Sales reached 700 billion won in the same period, up 22.3 percent from a year earlier, it said.

Overseas sales reached 231 billion won in the third quarter, rising 52 percent from a year earlier to account for 33 percent of its total revenue. (Yonhap)