KT dials up operating profit in Q1 to $370 million

KT, one of the country's major mobile carriers, logged an operating profit of 506.5 billion won from January-March, up 4.2 percent from last year.

KT's headquarters in Jung District, central Seoul [YONHAP]

KT, Korea’s major mobile carrier, logged an operating profit of 506.5 billion won ($370 million) for the first quarter, up 4.2 percent on year, driven by strong performances in its key businesses such as data centers and cloud services.

The figure narrowly missed the market consensus of 506.7 billion won compiled by market tracker FnGuide.

Revenue went up 3.3 percent to 6.65 trillion won, exceeding the analyst forecast of 6.57 trillion won.

Net profit rose 26.9 percent to 383 billion won, below the projected 384.5 billion won.

KT’s quarterly revenue for its business-to-customer wireless communication services jumped 1.7 percent to 1.74 trillion won.

As of the first quarter, the number of KT’s 5G subscribers totaled 9.95 million, 74 percent of the company’s total handset service subscribers.

Landline telephone revenue inched up 1 percent to 1.32 trillion won.

In the business-to-business sector including data, telecom, real estate, digital and AI, revenue rose 5 percent to 895 billion won.

Internet-only Kbank, a subsidiary under KT, recorded deposits of 24 trillion won and loans of 14.8 trillion won, up 44.1 percent and 23.6 percent, respectively, on year.

The number of customers also exceeded 10 million in this quarter. KT plans to file a preliminary review for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) within the first half of the year and aims to be listed this year.

Revenue from KT estate, KT’s real estate subsidiary, surged 20.3 percent to 135.7 billion won on increased leases from hotels, offices and housing, while revenue from cloud service subsidiary KT cloud rose 17.8 percent to 175.2 billion won based on its server management deals.

KT announced plans on Thursday to buy back 5,143,300 shares of its own stock amounting to 178.9 billion won on May 24, 2 percent of all issued shares.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]