Amorepacific Corp., South Korea's leading cosmetics firm by sales, said Tuesday its second-quarter net profit soared from a year earlier, helped by shareholding gains from its newly acquired affiliate.Net profit for the three months to June skyrocketed to 530.59 billion won (US$386 million) from 19.31 billion won during the same period of last year, the company said in a statement."A sharp increase in skin care affiliate COSRX's sales in the U.S., European and Middle Eastern markets was reflected in Amorepacific's quarterly bottom line," a company spokesperson said over the phone.Amorepacific acquired a 96 percent stake in the domestic skin care brand COSRX for 935 billion won in May to help offset lackluster sales in China in recent years.Operating profit fell 30 percent to 4.15 billion won in the June quarter from 5.8 billion won a year ago due to weak sales in China. Sales were down 4.3 percent to 904.75 billion won from 945.38 billion won during the cited period.Korean retailers and other busin esses have been struggling with declining sales due to the lingering impact of a diplomatic dispute over the deployment in South Korea of a U.S. anti-missile system called THAAD in 2017.Beijing opposed the THAAD system, arguing it could be used against the country, though Seoul said it is purely aimed at deterring missile threats from North Korea.Before the dispute, Amorepacific earned more than 50 percent of its overseas sales in China.Source: Yonhap News Agency