KT Alpha Q3 Revenue 125.5 Billion KRW... Operating Loss of 1.8 Billion KRW 'Turned to Deficit'

First Consolidated Performance After Merger... Sales Up 47.2% YoY
Commerce and Mobile Gift Achieve Record High Sales

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] KT Alpha announced on the 9th that its sales for the third quarter of this year were tentatively estimated at 125.5 billion KRW, a 47.2% increase compared to the same period last year. This result includes the performance of the newly incorporated mobile gift commerce business as part of the first combined figures after the merger. Operating profit turned to a loss of 1.8 billion KRW. The main reason is the increased investment to strengthen channel and mobile competitiveness in the commerce business.

Sales in the commerce business recorded 92.8 billion KRW, a 64% increase compared to the same period last year. K Shopping achieved sales of 77.4 billion KRW, up 36.9% year-on-year, setting a record high quarterly sales. K Shopping is focusing on securing growth based on active investments such as moving the Olleh TV channel number to S-grade (number 12) and is concentrating on advancing mobile commerce through merger synergies. In particular, it plans to expand distribution coverage by activating Live K, a mobile live broadcast service. Compared to early last year, the number of products on mobile live increased ninefold, and sales increased by about 1500%.

The newly incorporated mobile gift commerce business recorded sales of 15.3 billion KRW, a 27.7% increase year-on-year, setting a quarterly sales record. It continues steady growth through the activation of peer-to-peer mobile gifting and expanded marketing using mobile coupons by companies. The mobile gift commerce business plans to further solidify its number one position in the business-to-business (B2B) market by advancing the corporate-exclusive online service Giftishow Biz and expanding new sales.

Sales in the content media business recorded 13.6 billion KRW, a 68.4% increase compared to the same period last year, due to strong sales in domestic movies and series genres. The content media business plans to actively respond to the increased demand for distribution rights following the domestic launch of global OTT operators such as Disney+ and Apple TV and the spread of Korean Wave content.