(LEAD) SK Telecom Q2 operating profit to fall below estimate: analysts

(ATTN: CORRECTS the day to Wednesday in para 7)
SEOUL, July 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. is
expected to post a near 9 percent annual increase in second-quarter operating
profit, but it will hover well below market estimates, analysts said Wednesday.
SK Telecom's operating profit is estimated to reach 604.4 billion won (US$509.5
million) for the April-June period, up from 9.2 percent a year earlier, according
to a median forecast in a survey of 10 brokerages by Yonhap News Agency.
The projection is much lower than the 650 billion won market consensus made in
April.
The brokerages expected SK Telecom to post 3.13 trillion won in second-quarter
sales, slightly higher than the 3.08 trillion won reported during the same period
a year earlier.
SK Telecom, which accounts for slightly more than half of the country's wireless
market, is scheduled to announce its second-quarter results on Thursday.
Despite the growth in second-quarter operating profit, analysts said, SK
Telecom's share price is unlikely to rise over the short term due to lingering
concerns over a rate cut and fierce competition among the country's wireless
telephone service providers to lure subscribers.
SK Telecom shares closed at 166,000 won on the Seoul bourse Wednesday, up 0.61
percent from the previous session.
South Korean mobile carriers' marketing costs are high as they spend huge sums of
money to attract new customers. They are also under growing pressure to slash
charges, which critics argue are much higher than those in most advanced
countries.
jia@yna.co.kr
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