SK Telecom (SKT) improved its profitability in the second quarter, driven by growth in its data center (DC) business and a base effect from last year's USIM hacking incident. While revenue from the artificial intelligence data center (AIDC) saw a significant increase, the wireless business struggled due to a decline in subscribers.
On August 5, SKT announced that it recorded second-quarter revenue of 4.3591 trillion won, operating profit of 566 billion won, and net profit of 466 billion won.
Revenue increased by 0.5% year-on-year, supported by growth in the data center business. Operating profit surged by 67.3% compared to the same period last year, reflecting the impact of costs associated with the USIM hacking incident.
On a separate basis, revenue was 3.117 trillion won, with operating profit at 427.7 billion won and net profit at 310.6 billion won. The second-quarter dividend was set at 830 won per share.
The AIDC sector showed particularly strong growth, with second-quarter revenue reaching 136.2 billion won, a 92.5% increase from the previous year. This growth is attributed to the widespread adoption of generative AI and rising demand for high-performance computing infrastructure.
SKT plans to strengthen its AIDC business. Last month, it established SK Hyper, with plans to gradually open a 5-gigawatt (GW) AIDC by 2029.
Overall wireless revenue fell by 1.9% year-on-year to 2.5634 trillion won due to a decrease in subscriber numbers.
Revenue from the wired business increased by 3.8% year-on-year to 285.9 billion won, driven by a rise in high-speed internet subscribers and the proportion of gigabit internet users. However, revenue from paid broadcasting decreased by 0.8% to 296.8 billion won, and enterprise revenue fell by 3.6% to 280.1 billion won.
Park Jong-seok, SKT's Chief Financial Officer, stated, “In the first half of the year, we focused on solidifying our foundation based on stable revenue from the telecommunications business while laying the groundwork for rapid expansion in the AI data center sector. We will do our best to ensure that SKT plays a leading role in making South Korea an AI infrastructure hub in Asia.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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