SK Telecom (SKT) reported an operating profit exceeding 500 billion won in the third quarter of this year, marking an increase of approximately 1040% compared to the same period last year.
On November 4, SKT announced that its consolidated revenue for the third quarter reached 4.4973 trillion won, with an operating profit of 552.3 billion won and a net profit of 411.8 billion won.
Revenue grew by 3.2% from the previous quarter and by 13.1% year-on-year, driven by growth in both wired and wireless telecom services.
The operating profit surged by 1040.3% from 48.4 billion won in the same quarter last year. The previous year's figures were impacted by increased costs related to discounts and customer compensation following a hacking incident, but this year saw the elimination of those one-time expenses, leading to a normalization of performance.
SKT has recorded operating profits in the 500 billion won range for three consecutive quarters, recovering its performance to pre-pandemic levels.
On a standalone basis, revenue was 3.1563 trillion won, with an operating profit of 413.5 billion won and a net profit of 298.9 billion won.
The telecom sector continues to show steady growth, supported by customer-friendly products and services.
Wireless services have shown gradual revenue recovery due to a shift in marketing focus towards customer lifetime value (LTV). Notably, SKT ranked first in all three major customer satisfaction surveys in South Korea this year, including the National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI), Korean Service Quality Index (KS-SQI), and Korean Industry Customer Satisfaction Index (KCSI).
Revenue from wired telecom services also grew by 7.4% year-on-year, driven by an increase in high-speed internet subscribers.
The Artificial Intelligence Data Center (AIDC) business has established a robust framework with the launch of SK Hyper and SK Horizon. SKT will oversee the overall strategy, risk management, and global collaboration for the AIDC business, while SK Hyper will focus on business development and SK Horizon will manage infrastructure operations and expansion.
SK Horizon is currently constructing new data centers with a capacity of approximately 180 megawatts (MW) in Ulsan and Seoul, and plans to gradually expand its submarine cable business. SK Hyper is negotiating with potential clients in Ulsan and aims to expedite infrastructure development once sites are secured.
The AI services sector is also experiencing growth. SKT is expanding the application of its proprietary AI foundation model, A-dot, to business AI services, while participating in the 'Everyone's AI' initiative to combine its telecom and AI capabilities and build the largest AI service ecosystem in the country.
Park Jong-seok, SKT's Chief Financial Officer, stated, "We have achieved both recovery and growth based on our dual focus on telecom and AI. We will continue to connect our telecom and AI businesses as a unified growth strategy to amplify synergies."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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