SK Telecom net profit beats expectations in first quarter

SK Telecom saw a 37.3 percent on-year increase in net profit to 302.5 billion won ($228.4 million) for the first quarter.

SK Telecom logo at a company branch in Seoul [YONHAP]

SK Telecom logged an expectation-beating profit for the January-March period, mainly driven by increasing 5G subscribers.

The telecom company saw a 37.3 percent on-year increase in net profit to 302.5 billion won ($228.4 million) for the first quarter, boosted by equity incomes, according to its earnings report Wednesday.

The figure beat the analyst forecast of 272.6 billion won, compiled by market tracker FnGuide.

The quarterly operating profit rose 14.4 percent to 494.8 billion won, beating the forecast of 479.7 billion won.

Sales came in at 4.37 trillion won, up 2.2 percent on year, but missed the market expectation of 4.29 trillion won.

The increase in the number of 5G subscribers drove up the operating profit for the company.

SK Telecom had 14.1 million 5G subscribers as of March, taking up 61 percent of its total handset users, compared to 10.9 million subscribers in the same period last year.

Sales from media-related businesses rose 10.2 percent on year to 393.2 billion won. Sales of services for enterprise customers increased 5.8 percent to 386.2 billion won, with strong growth in demand for data centers and cloud products.

In an effort to expand its portfolio beyond the traditional telecom sector into the artificial intelligence business, SK Telecom recently invested 15 billion won in Scatter Lab, a start-up known for the Lee Lu-da chatbot service.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]