Q2 2024 Sales 6.5 Trillion KRW... Similar to Last Year
Labor Costs 1.2 Trillion KRW Up 7.2%... Wage Negotiations 64.4 Billion KRW
Enterprise Service Business Down 1.0%... Structural Improvement
KT's operating profit for the second quarter of this year was 494 billion KRW, a 14.3% decrease compared to the same period last year. Factors such as increased labor costs, a decline in wired business sales, and poor performance of major KT group companies influenced this result.
KT announced on the 9th that its consolidated sales for the second quarter of 2024 were 6.5464 trillion KRW, similar to last year, while operating profit decreased by 14.3% to 494 billion KRW.
Regarding the decrease in operating profit, KT stated that the costs reflected were due to wage negotiations. Labor costs in operating expenses for the second quarter were 1.2132 trillion KRW, a 7.2% increase compared to the second quarter of last year.
Excluding the 64.4 billion KRW cost resulting from the wage negotiation outcome, KT said that consolidated operating profit decreased by 3.1% year-on-year, while separate operating profit increased by 3.9%.
Wireless business sales reached 1.7651 trillion KRW, a 2.5% increase compared to the same period last year. Notably, the number of 5G subscribers surpassed 10 million, and wireless service sales grew by 2.7% due to expansion in roaming and budget phone businesses. KT has introduced 10 types of mid-to-low priced 5G plans and launched 'TVing, Genie, and Millie Choice' plans last month, expanding customer options.
Sales in wired sectors such as internet, media, and landline phones were 1.3166 trillion KRW, a 0.3% decrease compared to the second quarter of last year. High-speed internet maintained approximately 9.9 million subscribers, and sales increased by 1.0% year-on-year as the proportion of 1G speed subscribers among Giga internet users rose. The media business saw a 0.9% sales growth year-on-year by maintaining net IPTV subscriber increases.
However, home landline phone sales decreased by 7.8%, and the number of IPTV subscribers declined to 9.423 million from 9.47 million in the second quarter of last year.
The enterprise services business saw a 1.0% decrease in sales year-on-year due to structural improvements in low-profit businesses such as solar energy, digital logistics, and healthcare. KT plans to continue structural rationalization of its B2B business to secure sustainable growth drivers.
Among enterprise services, sales in five major growth sectors?AICC, Internet of Things (IoT), smart mobility, smart spaces, and energy?reached 96 billion KRW, a 10.3% increase year-on-year. Particularly, the AICC business continues double-digit growth driven by increased demand for subscription-based AICC services, mainly from public customers.
Looking at KT group companies' performance, BC Card and Skylife sales were 977.7 billion KRW and 254.6 billion KRW respectively, down 6.8% and 2.5% compared to the second quarter of last year. Content subsidiaries such as Nasmedia and KT Studio Genie also recorded sales of 135.4 billion KRW, a 14.8% decrease year-on-year.
KT Cloud (180.1 billion KRW) saw a 17.1% increase in sales due to growth in internet data center (IDC) sales focused on global customers. KT Estate (155.8 billion KRW) experienced a 7.1% sales growth year-on-year, with balanced growth in office and hotel rental sales.
In June, KT signed a strategic partnership with Microsoft (MS) to transform into an AICT company. KT plans to collaborate comprehensively with MS in AI, cloud, and IT fields.
Jang Min, KT CFO (Executive Director), stated, "To make a full-fledged leap as an AICT company, we will improve our business structure and expand comprehensive cooperation with global IT companies."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
