[Click e-Stock] "SK Telecom, Subscriber Losses Stabilizing... Dividend Is Key"

On July 18, NH Investment & Securities stated that "the worst of the situation has passed for SK Telecom following the cyber breach incident," and raised its target price from 63,000 won to 65,000 won. The firm also maintained its buy rating.

On this day, Ahn Jae-min, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, said, "We initially assumed 1.2 million subscriber losses and more than 200 billion won in penalty fees, but the actual figures are expected to be lower than this," adding, "Taking this into account, we are revising up our operating profit forecast for this year and raising our target price."

Due to the earlier cyber breach, SK Telecom suffered both reputational damage as the leading operator and subscriber losses. According to NH Investment & Securities, as of July 14, approximately 1.05 million customers eligible for penalty waivers had left. After accounting for new subscribers, the net decrease was 730,000.

This year's operating profit is expected to be 1.17 trillion won, a 35.9% decrease compared to the same period last year. Ahn noted, "From next month, a reduction in ARPU (average revenue per user) is inevitable due to fee discounts and the provision of 50GB of free data."

The future share price trend is expected to depend on whether the dividend is maintained. Ahn added, "The stock price remains resilient on expectations that the dividend per share (3,540 won, dividend yield 6.3%) will be maintained," and continued, "The board of directors is expected to decide on the interim dividend amount at the end of this month. If it remains at 830 won, the same as the previous quarter, there will be no further negative factors."