Major South Korean credit card issuer Samsung Card Co. said Friday its net profit jumped nearly 16 percent in 2020 from a year earlier despite the coronavirus outbreak.

Net profit came to 398.8 billion won ($357 million) last year, up 15.9 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales climbed 2.2 percent on-year to 3.37 trillion won, with its operating profit surging 18.8 percent to 534.3 billion won.

Last year's solid performance by Samsung Card, the No. 2 industry player, came in spite of South Koreans' decreased card use in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

South Korea has been gripped by the outbreak of COVID-19 since Jan. 20, 2020, when the country reported its first case.

Samsung Card is the credit card arm of Samsung Group, South Korea's top family-controlled conglomerate that also has smartphone and memory chip giant Samsung Electronics Co. under its wing. (Yonhap)