April 20, 2024

• 

[THE INVESTOR] SK Telecom said on July 27 its second-quarter operating profit tumbled 18 percent from a year earlier mainly due to increased costs from a change in accounting standards and the application of new mobile phone discount fees.

Operating profit came to 346.9 billion won (US$309.30 million) for the April-June period, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales also decreased 4.4 percent on-year to 4.15 trillion won over the cited period.

SK Telecom said while its sales from its media business increased, its operating profit lost ground due to changes in accounting standards and the depressed mobile network business.

The government earlier mandated that the discount rate of monthly mobile phone plans provided by telecom firms be raised from 20 percent to 25 percent, in line with efforts to reduce outlays related to telecommunication services.

Second-quarter net profit, however, soared 47.3 percent on-year to a record high of 914.3 billion won due to a strong earnings report of Korea’s No. 2 chipmaker, SK hynix. SK Telecom is currently the biggest shareholder of SK hynix, with its stake standing at around 20 percent.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)