[Click eStock] "SK Telecom, Expecting Various Changes"

NH Investment & Securities Issues 'Buy' Rating and Sets Target Price at 310,000 KRW... Closing Price on 13th at 234,500 KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Kum Boryeong] An analysis has emerged that various changes at SK Telecom are expected this year.

According to NH Investment & Securities on the 14th, SK Telecom's fourth-quarter results last year are expected to be sales of 4.6 trillion won and operating profit of 245.6 billion won. Compared to the previous year, these figures represent increases of 5.8% and 9%, respectively.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) turned to an upward trend for the first time in 15 quarters since the first quarter of 2016, driving wireless revenue growth. Jaemin Ahn, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, explained, "Although operating profit is expected to decrease compared to the previous quarter due to seasonal cost increases in the fourth quarter, marketing expenses have stabilized at 738 billion won."

Ahn's analysis indicates that SK Telecom's corporate value has entered an undervalued range. He stated, "This year, we expect separate net income to increase by 7.9% from the previous year to 1.2 trillion won, and applying the average price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of 12 times from global telecom companies in the US and Japan, the corporate value of the headquarters alone is projected at 14 trillion won."

Furthermore, Ahn added, "With industry conditions improving, the stock prices of SK Hynix, SK Broadband?which is about to merge with t-broad?11st, which has surpassed its break-even point, and ADT Caps, which has continued high growth since acquisition, are all rising. This indicates that SK Telecom's corporate value has sufficient potential to increase." The possibility of changes in governance structure has also increased following the organizational restructuring at the end of last year.

NH Investment & Securities has given SK Telecom a 'Buy' investment rating. However, the target price was lowered from the previous 340,000 won to 310,000 won due to a decline in earnings estimates after this year. The closing price on the 13th was 234,500 won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.