LG Telecom Q2 net falls 43.3 pct on higher costs

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SEOUL, July 31 (Yonhap) -- LG Telecom Ltd., South Korea's smallest mobile
carrier, said Friday its second-quarter earnings fell 43.3 percent from a year
earlier largely due to higher marketing costs.

Net income stood at 38.3 billion won (US$31.1 million) in the April-June period,
compared with 67.6 billion won a year earlier, LG Telecom said in a regulatory
filing. The bottom line also plunged 66.9 percent from the first quarter.
Sales, however, rose 5.69 percent on-year to 1.33 trillion won, while operating
profit fell 38.8 percent to 58.1 billion won, it said.
Shares of LG Telecom stood at 8,650 won as of 9:15 a.m., up 1.29 pct from the
previous session.
The company said fierce competition among mobile carriers led to higher marketing
costs and capital expenditures in the second quarter. LG Telecom added it also
aggressively increased expenses in the second quarter to develop its
fourth-generation mobile service.
LG Telecom, the mobile unit of South Korea's third-largest conglomerate LG Group,
has a market share of 18 percent.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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