April 27, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] KT, Korea’s leading wireless and fixed-line services provider, said on Nov. 2 its third-quarter net profit jumped 18.2 percent from a year earlier on the rapid growth of its internet business.

Net profit came to 239.5 billion won (US$212.50 million) in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 200.2 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sales came to 5.94 trillion won, up 2.1 percent on-year over the cited period, KT said. Operating profit lost 2.1 percent on-year to reach 369.5 billion won.

The figures were slightly above the market median. Local brokerages had predicted KT’s revenue would be at 5.8 trillion won, with its operating income estimated at 350 billion won during the third quarter.

Sales in its wireless business fell 2.5 percent on-year to 1.65 trillion won in the third quarter due to an increase in the discount rate of monthly mobile phone bills. Sales in its fixed-line business declined 1.5 percent to 1.2 trillion won during the same period, KT said.

However, sales in the internet business rose 3.7 percent on-year due to more subscriptions to what the company calls superfast “giga-speed” services.

The media and content business, considered a new growth engine, posted sales of 625.3 billion won, jumping 9.2 percent on-year on the back of increased numbers of IPTV service users and increased profits from its platform business.

Sales from financial businesses were up 1 percent on-year over the cited period to 882.3 billion won on the back of a much-improved performance of its credit card unit.

“The company witnessed a cut in sales in its wireless business due to changes in the telecommunications market but was able to obtain stable earnings due to the sound performance of other core businesses,” KT CFO Yoon Kyung-keun said.

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