KT to buy back 500 bln won worth of shares

(ATTN: ADDS details in para 3; ADDS stock price in last para)
SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) -- KT Corp., South Korea's top fixed-line and broadband
Internet operator, said Wednesday it plans to buy back 500 billion won (US$331.7
million) worth of its shares and cancel them to boost shareholder value.
The move comes ahead of KT's planned merger with affiliate KTF Co., the nation's
second-ranked mobile carrier.
The date of the buyback will be set "as soon as possible" by a board of
directors, KT said.
The company added it will stick with its existing policy of distributing 50
percent or more of annual net profit to shareholders, even after it merges with
KTF.
The Korea Communications Commission, South Korea's anti-trust watchdog, is
expected to determine its stance on the planned merger sometime soon.
KT controls some 90 percent of the country's fixed-line telephony market and has
over 12 million broadband Internet subscribers, while KTF commands a third of the
nation's mobile market.
The merger is expected to create a communications giant that can compete with No.
1 mobile carrier SK Telecom, which also raised its business profile by acquiring
No. 2 broadband operator Hanarotelecom Inc. last year.
Rival firms claim the KT-KTF deal could hamper free market competition. The
merger threatens to expand KT's market dominance as the newly formed company
would be able to offer fixed-line and mobile service packages.
Shares of KT gained 6.98 percent to 38,300 won on the main bourse as of 1:30 p.m.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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