KT Corp., the country’s major fixed and mobile carrier, said Friday its second-quarter operating profit fell 14.3 percent from a year earlier due to rising labor costs.
Its operating profit came to 494 billion won (US$359.2 million) for the April-June period, compared with 576.1 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Revenue remained flat at 6.54 trillion won, while its net income declined 5.1 percent to 410.5 billion won.
The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 378.7 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.
KT said the on-year decrease in operating profit was led by costs from a wage deal that was made earlier than usual. Last year, results of a wage deal were included in the third-quarter balance sheet.
Its mainstay mobile business saw its sales grow 2.5 percent on-year to 1.76 trillion won, thanks to an increase in fifth-generation (5G) network subscribers a
nd stronger demand for roaming and mobile virtual network operator services.
The number of 5G mobile network subscribers topped 10 million in the second quarter, accounting for 75 percent of the company’s total mobile subscriptions.
Cable sales inched down 0.3 percent to 1.31 trillion won on decreasing demand for household fixed lines.
Sales from corporate services fell 1 percent on-year to 882.7 billion won amid efforts to downsize its low-profit businesses.
KT said sales from its five major future growth engines, including its AI contact center, internet of things, smart mobility and smart space, advanced 10.3 percent on-year to 96 billion won.
The company said its real estate and cloud service arms showed solid growth last year.
KT estate Inc. raised 155.8 billion won in sales, up 7.1 percent on-year, and KT cloud Co. saw its sales go up 17.1 percent on-year to 180.1 billion won.
But BC Card Co., KT’s financial affiliate, posted a 6.8 percent decrease in sales to 977.7 billion won.
Source: Yonhap
News Agency
