SEOUL, May 12 (AJP) - South Korea’s largest wireless carrier SK Telecom reported a marginal decline in net profit for the first quarter of 2025, as increased corporate taxes offset gains from its expanding artificial intelligence businesses.
The company said Monday that net income for the three months ending in March fell 0.1 percent to 361.6 billion won ($258.3 million), compared with 361.9 billion won during the same period a year earlier. The decrease was attributed to higher tax expenses following the expiration of special depreciation provisions.
Despite the dip in profit, operating income rose 13.8 percent to 567.4 billion won, buoyed by robust demand in the company’s artificial intelligence divisions — including AI data centers and enterprise-focused AI transformation services — as well as continued strength in its fixed-line segment.
Revenue for the quarter edged down 0.5 percent to 4.45 trillion won, from 4.47 trillion won a year earlier.
Separately, the company addressed ongoing fallout from a major data breach disclosed in April, which compromised universal subscriber identity module (USIM) data for its entire user base.
SK Telecom, which serves roughly 25 million subscribers — about half of South Korea’s mobile market — has been under scrutiny as it works to rebuild customer trust.
In response, the company has intensified its fraud detection efforts, raising its monitoring system to the highest alert level.
It also began automatically enrolling eligible users in its USIM card protection program and is offering free USIM replacements. As of May 11, 1.47 million users had completed the replacement process.
reporter
Candice Kim
candicekim1121@ajupress.com
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