South Korean operator SK Telecom has announced plans to list its five affiliates ADP Caps, SK Broadband, One Store, 11 Street and Wave. The move is designed to improve SK Telecom’s valuation, The Korea Times reports, citing SK Telecom CFO Yoon Poong-young. "Plans for initial public offerings (IPOs) of our five affiliates including fixed-line operator SK Broadband, online commerce operator 11 Street and security operator ADT Caps are being reviewed," the company executive said.
According to SK Telecom’s CFO, the company will "communicate with the domestic capital markets" when deciding which valuation method to use for each of the affiliates. "SK Telecom will delve into specifics about the valuation of the firms businesses in preparing for the IPOs. But that doesn't necessarily mean we will put them on the stock market anytime soon", the executive added.
SK Telecom confirmed plans to expand its media content business through acquisitions, and reduce its heavy reliance on the already-saturated telecommunications market to ensure corporate sustainability. "SK Telecom is on track to complete all relevant procedures to launch the combined entity of SK Broadband and T-Broad in April. The new firm will significantly help us rise as a leading media content company with 8 million customers", said Ha Hyung-il, director of SK Telecom’s Corporate Development Center.
SK Telecom recently announced in ended 2019 with 2.08 million 5G subscribers, and expects to reach 6 to 7 million 5G users by end-2020. SK Telecom also saw its revenue grow 5.2 percent year-on-year to a record KRW 17.744 trillion in 2019. This revenue increase was mainly boosted by growth in SK Telecom’s new business areas including media and security, as well as its expanding mobile business powered by the launch of 5G services, the company said. SK Telecom’s net income plunged 72.5 percent to KRW 861.9 billion, due to factors including decreased equity method gains from SK Hynix.
SK Broadband’s IPTV business revenue for 2019 jumped 10.7 percent year-on-year to KRW 1.299 trillion. The company ended the year with 5.19 million IPTV subscribers by adding 464,000 net subscribers in 2019. SK Telecom’s security business, ADT Caps and SK Infosec, posted revenue of KRW 1.193 trillion in 2019, which represents an increase of 17.4 percent year-on-year, and annual operating income of KRW 153.5 billion reflecting a 21.9 percent increase from 2018.
