SK Telecom's third-quarter net profit up 44.2 percent

Industry

Published: 05 Nov. 2020, 19:24

SK Telecom's third-quarter net profit up 44.2 percent

[SK Telecom]

SK Telecom’s third-quarter net profit rose 44.2 percent on year to 395.7 billion won ($350.2 million) driven by gains related to its investment in SK hynix.

Revenue increased by 3.7 percent to 4.73 trillion won, and operating profit rose by 19.7 percent to 361.5 billion won year-on-year.

SK Telecom owns about 6 percent of SK hynix.

The company attributed the growth to the performance of its wireless communication business as well as fast growth in its media, security and commerce segments. The businesses collectively recorded an 18.9 percent jump in sales to 526.7 billion won. The operating profit in these businesses rose 40.3 percent on year, breaking 100 million won for the first time.

SK Telecom’s media content business grew 20.3 percent to 966.8 billion won, owing to the growth of its IPTV business and effects from its merger with t-broad, Korea’s second-largest cable TV operator.

Sales of its security business rose 15.5 percent on year to 353.3 billion won. Security service provider ADT Caps, which SKT acquired in 2018, and SK Infosec are planning to expand their security business based on information communication technology, such as facial recognition using artificial intelligence and cloud services.

The mobile carrier’s wireless sales rose 1 percent on year to 2.94 trillion won, as its expansion in 5G services and customer base balanced losses that were incurred from the end of its 2G services. It plans to continue to provide services suitable for the untact, or contactless, era that is becoming the norm during the pandemic.

BY LEE JEE-YOUNG [lee.jeeyoung1@joongang.co.kr]