Korean communications provider SK Telecom recorded a first quarter net income of KRW 346 billion, up 15 percent from KRW 300 billion in the year-ago period as positive earnings from SK Hynix contributed to pre-tax profits. Operating revenues went up 4 percent to KRW 4.11 trillion from KRW 3.97 trillion a year earlier, due to growth in the LTE subscriber base, new businesses including B2B solutions, and the merger of SK M&C with SK Planet.
Operating revenues went up 4 percent to KRW 4.11 trillion from KRW 3.97 trillion a year earlier, due to growth in the LTE subscriber base, new businesses including B2B solutions, and the merger of SK M&C with SK Planet. Mobile service revenues totalled KRW 2.73 trillion, up from KRW 2.62 trillion a year earlier, while interconnection revenues fell to KRW 210 billion from KRW 254 billion. New business and other revenues rose to KRW 175 billion from KRW 132 billion.
However, operating income fell 18 percent year-on-year to KRW 411 billion due to the increase in depreciation costs stemming from SKT's network capital investment and a rise in marketing expenses. EBITDA slipped 1 percent to KRW 1.09 trillion while EBITDA margin fell to 26.6 percent from 27.9 percent in Q1 2012.
Capex fell to KRW 351 billion in Q1 from KRW 482 billion as the company completed the roll out of nationwide LTE coverage in FY 2012.
SK Telecom added 68,000 new mobile subscribers in the quarter, to bring its total to 27.03 million. Of the total, 16.65 million are smartphone subscribers and the total also includes 9.33 million LTE subscribers. Monthly churn improved to 2.4 percent from 2.5 percent in the year-ago period.
