Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co., one of South Korea's major builders, said Tuesday that its second-quarter earnings surged more than 2.5 times from a year earlier on a recovery in the local housing market.

Net profit came to 83.55 billion won (US$71.41 million) during the April-June period, up 162.83 percent from the 31.79 billion won posted a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating income, however, dropped 10.3 percent to 92.4 billion won over the cited period, while sales inched up 0.24 percent to 2.52 trillion won.