KT Corp.’s headquarters building in central Seoul is shown in this file photo taken on July 2, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — KT Corp., South Korea’s No. 2 wireless carrier, said Wednesday its second-quarter net edged down on-year amid an increase in operating expenses.
KT’s net income amounted to 363.4 billion won (US$277.8 million) on a consolidated basis in the April-June period, down 2 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Operating profit fell 3.5 percent on-year to 459.2 billion won, while sales increased 4.7 percent to 6.31 trillion won.
The earnings beat market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 348.6 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.
KT attributed the on-year net profit decline to an overall increase in operating costs, including personnel costs and other one-off factors. The costs climbed 5.4 percent to 5.55 trillion won.
The company reported sales growth across its various business units, especially in its 5G mobile and business-to-business operations.
Sales of its business-to-customer wireless business grew 1.6 percent on-year, with the number of 5G subscribers reaching 7.47 million that accounted for 54 percent of all of KT’s mobile users.
Its content business sales also soared 34.7 percent thanks to growth of its content subsidiaries, such as KT Studio Genie, producer of the hit TV series “Extraordinary Attorney Woo Young-woo.”
(Yonhap)
