SK Telecom logs higher quarterly profit on AI, lower costs

SK Telecom Co., South Korea’s top mobile carrier, reported a higher quarterly profit as its cost-cutting and strong artificial intelligence (AI) business offset bearish factors such as the government’s pressure to lower telco bills.

SK Telecom said on Tuesday its operating profit rose 16% to 537.5 billion won ($390.5 million) in the second quarter from a year earlier on a consolidated basis with sales up 2.7% to 4.4 trillion won.

Its operating profit margin rose to 12.2% from 10.8% during the same period a year earlier.

The telecommunication unit of South Korea’s No. 2 conglomerate SK Group reduced its marketing expenses by 5.1% to 716 billion won in the April-June period compared with a year ago.

Meanwhile, its average revenue per user (ARPU) fell 2.1% to 29,298 won during the period, as the local 5G mobile communication market matured and the government continued to ask carriers to cut bills.

TO SPEED UP AI PUSH

Strong non-telecommunication businesses, especially AI, contributed to SK Telecom’s better earnings, company officials said.

The company won AI cloud business orders from domestic internet service providers and others, raising its overall sales, they said.

It is looking to accelerate its AI push.

“We will focus on making achievements as an AI company,” said SK Telecom Chief Financial Officer Kim Yang Seob at an earnings conference call.

“We plan to test a global PAA this year in the global market,” Kim said, referring to a personalized AI assistant.

Write to Ji-Eun Jeong at jeong@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.