KT Skylife, 3Q Operating Profit 11.9 Billion KRW... Up 8.3% YoY

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] KT Skylife posted an operating profit of 11.9 billion KRW in the third quarter on a separate basis. This represents an 8.3% increase compared to the previous year.

On the 4th, KT Skylife announced that it recorded sales of 166.8 billion KRW, operating profit of 11.9 billion KRW, and net profit of 10.4 billion KRW in the third quarter. Although sales decreased by 3.4% year-on-year, operating profit and net profit increased compared to the previous year due to growth in internet service sales and reduced marketing expenses. Operating profit rose by 8.3% (900 million KRW), and net profit increased by 17.2% (1.6 billion KRW). However, compared to the previous quarter, operating profit decreased by 51.2% (12.5 billion KRW) and net profit by 47.1% (9.2 billion KRW) due to a temporary increase in other expenses such as broadcasting development fund payments.

As of the third quarter of 2020, the total number of broadcasting subscribers was 4.1 million, a decrease of 39,000 from the previous quarter. Skylife TV, a satellite broadcasting-only product, saw new subscribers increase by 18% year-on-year due to securing product competitiveness. UHD subscribers, who have a higher average revenue per user (ARPU), grew by 31,000 from the previous quarter to 1.395 million, accounting for 34% of total subscribers, continuing their growth.

Internet subscribers increased by 28,000 due to the ‘30% Discount Home Bundle’ plan, marking the highest number of new subscribers since the internet business launch in October 2018, continuing the growth trend. The cumulative number of internet subscribers reached 169,000 at the end of the third quarter, nearly double the 88,000 subscribers from the same period last year using Skylife internet. As the number of subscribers to the ‘30% Discount Home Bundle’ plan, which offers discounts on fees instead of gifts, increased, the DPS bundling rate among internet subscribers who also subscribe to broadcasting remained above 90%, at 94.6%.

Yang Chun-sik, Head of Management Planning at KT Skylife, said, “With the launch of Skylife Mobile on October 30, we started the fourth quarter as a smart platform that can provide broadcasting, internet, and mobile services altogether,” adding, “We expect to contribute to reducing household communication expenses by offering reasonable products to customers through TPS products beyond DPS.”

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