SK Telecom logs net profit of 245.6 billion won in third quarter

In-game image of SK Telecom's metaverse service ifland [SK TELECOM]

SK Telecom logged a net profit of 245.6 billion won ($179.6 million) in the third quarter, down 66.7 percent on year and below the expectation of 280.7 billion won compiled by FnGuide.

The steep fall in net earnings is due to the SK Square spinoff last year, as equity contributions from SK hynix have been excluded in the earnings. Without taking SK Square’s earnings from last year into account, the net decreased 6.8 percent on year.

Sales rose 3 percent to 4.34 trillion won, just missing the analyst forecast of 4.37 trillion won.

Operating profit increased 18.5 percent to 465.6 billion won, led by the increase in 5G subscribers as well as its media and business-to-business (B2B) services. The figure beat the market expectation of 453.2 billion won.

As of September, the number of SK Telecom’s 5G subscribers reached 12.47 million, about 53 percent of the total handset subscribers compared to 11.68 million at the end of the previous quarter.

Sales of the media business increased 20.6 percent to 395.6 billion won in the July-September period. The B2B businesses, which involve data centers and cloud computing services, grew 8.9 percent in sales to 378.5 billion won.

SK Broadband, SK Telecom’s internet service subsidiary, saw a 1.5 percent increase in net profit to 55 billion won. Operating profit was 79.7 billion won, up 1.4 percent on year, and sales stood at 1.04 trillion won, up 1.9 percent.

Along with its earnings report Thursday, the telecom company said that its “ifland” metaverse service will launch in 48 countries later this month.

“We are developing new features and content for the global service, and plan to expand our foothold in the overseas markets in collaboration with local telecom companies,” said Yang Maeng-seok, head of the metaverse business at SK Telecom, during the online conference call Thursday.

In October, SK Telecom signed a memorandum of understanding with e&, a telecom company based in the United Arab Emirates, to enter the local market.

As of September, ifland accumulated a total of 12.8 million users, according to SK Telecom.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]