SK cuts third-generation cell service budget

SK Telecom Co., the cell-phone service leader in Korea, said yesterday that it earned 449 billion won ($370 million) in net profits on 2.2 trillion won in revenue for the first quarter of the year. The firm’s revenues grew 16 percent over the same period in 2002, and its net profit increased 1 percent, the company said. SK also had 751 billion won in operating profits, up 13 percent from the identical period last year. The company attributed the improved performance to the fast growth of its wireless Internet business. Separately, Pyo Moon-soo, president of SK Telecom, said at a meeting with investors that he would cut the investment budget for third-generation mobile service projects this year by about half, from the initially planned 520 billion won to 250 billion won. SK Telecom’s total investment plan for the year will decrease from 2.5 trillion won to 1.95 trillion won. The company earlier this year faced resistance from shareholders, and its stock price dropped, when it announced the original ambitious investment plan. Mr. Pyo also said that SK Global, the SK Group’s general trading arm enmeshed in a book-rigging scandal, would be turned down by all SK affiliates if it asked them for financial help. by Kim Hyo-jin