SK Telecom 1Q revenue up, net profit down

SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile phone operator, said yesterday that its first-quarter net profit dropped more than 8 percent on an annual basis due mainly to one-off charges. Net profit came to 337 billion won ($353 million) in the January-March period, down 8.5 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. The figure is well below the forecast of 452 billion won in a survey by FnGuide, a local financial survey institute. Revenues rose 5.3 percent to 2.54 trillion won, while operating profit jumped 8.7 percent to 668 billion won, the company said. Compared to three months earlier, net profit plunged 27.4 percent and sales fell 3.3 percent. The special expense resulted from a change in its severance payment system, SK Telecom said, without elaborating. The sales increase for the first quarter is attributable to an expansion in its subscription base and brisk demand for wireless data service during the first three months of this year, according to the company. Revenues from wireless data service reached 663 billion won, up 21.1 percent from a year earlier, boosted by sales of Internet content including online music files, it said. During the period, SK Telecom spent 440 billion won on marketing activities, up 1.0 percent from a year ago.