LG Uplus Corp., South Korea's third-largest mobile carrier, said Friday its third-quarter net profit fell 47.7 percent from a year earlier due mainly to the sale of its business unit.

Net profit for the three months that ended in September fell to 211 billion won ($177.1 million) from a profit of 403.4 billion won in the year-ago period, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating profit increased 10.2 percent to 276.7 billion won, the highest quarterly figure since 2010, while sales increased 4.1 percent to 3.48 trillion won over the cited period.

LG Uplus said the on-year decrease in net profit is mainly blamed on the sale of its payment gateway business to local fintech firm Viva Republica Ltd. in August last year.

The mobile carrier still enjoyed a strong annual performance thanks to increased mobile subscribers.

Sales from its wireless division grew 4.2 percent on-year to 1.52 trillion won in the third quarter thanks to continued subscriber growth.

LG Uplus' total wireless service subscribers, including those from its subsidiary LG HelloVision Corp., stood at 17.5 million as of the end of September, up 7.6 percent from the previous year.

Users on 5G jumped 89.1 percent on-year to reach 4.1 million over the same period, keeping the company on track to reach its goal of 4.5 million users on the latest generation network this year.

Sales from the telecom operator's smart home business, which includes its internet protocol TV and high-speed internet services, stood at 568.5 billion won in the third quarter, up 10.5 percent from the previous year. The company's IPTV subscriptions grew 8.8 percent on-year to reach 5.26 million. (Yonhap)