SK Telecom logs 4.6 pct rise in Q2 earnings

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SEOUL, July 28 (Yonhap) -- SK Telecom Co., South Korea's leading mobile carrier,
said Tuesday its net profit rose 4.6 percent on-year in the first quarter on a
broader customer base and higher revenue from wireless Internet.
Net income stood at 311.6 billion won (US$251 million) in the April-June period,
compared with 298 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory
filing. Compared with the previous quarter, earnings dropped 1.6 percent.
Sales rose 4.7 percent to 3.07 trillion won, while operating profit rose 3.8
percent to 553 billion won, it said.
Shares of SK Telecom were trading at 181,000 won on the main bourse as of 11:26
a.m., up 0.56 percent from the previous session.
The company attributed the rise in the bottom line to an increase in the number
of subscribers and more wireless Internet revenue.
The total number of SK Telecom subscribers climbed 5 percent on-year to reach
23.83 million as of the end of June. Its wireless Internet revenue rose 11.8
percent on-year to 671.2 billion won due to strong growth in flat-rate data plan
subscribers.
Due to intense competition to draw customers, marketing expenses climbed 8.3
percent from a year earlier to 948.6 billion won, the company said.
"Local mobile carriers engaged in fierce competition in the second quarter as
they scrambled to attract more customers," said Jang Dong-hyun, chief financial
officer of SK Telecom.
SK Telecom said it invested 319 billion won in the second quarter to secure
third-generation capacity and improve call quality. Cumulative capital
expenditures in the first half of 2009 gained 10 percent on-year to 667.4 billion
won.
SK Telecom offered an upbeat outlook for the third quarter, expecting the market
to stabilize in the second half of 2009.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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