Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., the world's leading desalination plant builder, said Wednesday that it shifted to a net profit in the third quarter from a year earlier due to the strong performance of its key affiliates.

For the three months ending on Sept. 30, net profit reached 45.9 billion won ($40.3 million), compared with a net loss of 9.9 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Doosan Heavy attributed the turnaround to robust sales of Doosan Infracore Co., South Korea's largest construction equipment maker by sales.

On Tuesday, Doosan Infracore said that its third-quarter net profit jumped 14.9 percent from a year earlier.

Doosan Heavy holds a controlling 36.4 percent stake in Doosan Infracore.

Operating profit rose 9.35 percent to 211.6 billion won in the third quarter from 193.5 billion won a year ago. Sales increased 2.61 percent to 3.38 trillion won from 3.3 trillion won during the cited period, it said.

Shares in Doosan Heavy rose 1.86 percent to 10,950 won, outperforming the broader KOSPI's 0.74 percent gain. (Yonhap)