(Lotte Himart)

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Lotte Himart Co. saw its third-quarter operating profit plunge by more than 39 percent due to weak demand in South Korea’s home appliance market.

The company said in a regulatory filing on Friday that its operating profit stood at 19 billion won ($13.3 million) in the July-September period, down 39.3 percent from the same period a year ago.

Sales also fell 4.9 percent to 652.5 billion won and net profit plunged 47.1 percent to 14.2 billion won.

The company said that besides a one-off boost from a 22.1-billion-won VAT refund in the same period last year, sales declined 0.9 percent, but operating profit rose by 10.1 billion won.

Operating profit has improved for three straight quarters, it added.

For the January–September period, sales edged up 0.1 percent, with operating profit and net profit rising by 24.4 billion won and 26.8 billion won, respectively.

The retailer aims to achieve over 2.8 trillion won in sales and over 100 billion won in operating profit by 2029, driven by broader product selection, improved customer experience, and online-offline integration.