April 19, 2024

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[The Investor] Two major Korean telecom carriers are presumed to have posted weaker earnings in the third quarter, industry watchers said on Oct. 18.

According to the data compiled by market tracker FnGuide, SK Telecom, the country’s largest mobile carrier, is expected to report 341.1 billion won (US$302.30 million) in operating profit in the July-September period, down 13.1 percent on-year. Its sales are forecast to have decreased 5 percent on-year to 4.22 trillion won.

KT likely posted an operating profit of 364.1 billion won, down 3.5 percent, with sales largely unchanged at 5.84 trillion won during the cited period.

Meanwhile, the operating profit of LG Uplus, Korea’s smallest mobile carrier, is forecast to grow 2.9 percent on-year to 220.3 billion won on 3.39 trillion won in sales, down 0.7 percent.

Analysts said the cut in revenues at SK Telecom and KT is blamed on an increased number of users signing up for monthly discounts of 25 percent.

Earnings are expected to improve next year, however, as the companies plan to commercialize high-end 5G networks in March.

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