April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s largest telecommunications firm KT said on July 28 that it saw a profit increase during the April-June period thanks partly to the growth of media content and energy solutions businesses.

The telecom company said its operating profit came in at 447.3 billion won (US$399 million), up 4.8 percent from a year earlier, while its revenue increased 2.9 percent on-year to 842.5 billion won. 

KT CEO Hwang Chang-gyu

The number of mobile subscribers increased by 287,000 to 19.5 million, with 76 percent using the firm’s LTE mobile services. KT’s mobile business earned 1.64 trillion won, down 1.7 percent from a year earlier.

The company’s flagship broadband service GiGA Internet overcame the losses due to its waning landline services. The internet business earned 501.1 billion won, up 4.4 percent on-year, while the landline revenue dropped 12.4 percent on-year to 461.4 billion won.

The number of subscribers to the GiGA Internet surpassed 3.2 million in the second quarter.

KT’s media content business saw its quarterly revenue increase 11.2 percent to 561.4 billion won thanks to the influx of loyal subscribers, the company said.

The smart energy management solution business, one of KT’s future growth engines, posted 46.7 billion won in sales in the first half this year, which is higher than the unit’s entire 2016 sales of 42 billion won. The company plans to roll out new solutions for buildings in the third quarter.

The financial division of the telecom firm, which owns credit card company BC Card, saw its sales improve 6.6 percent on-year to 914.7 billion won. The company sold its stake in US financial services operator Mastercard and the deal generated a one-time profit of 40 billion won.

“The fact that the media and smart energy businesses, two of the firm’s five core growth engines made the outstanding achievement in the second quarter is very encouraging,” said, KT CFO Shin Kwang-seok, adding the company will try to pursue business growth in future.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)