5G Cumulative Customers Surpass 10 Million... SKT Achieves Solid Performance Last Year (Comprehensive)

Sales of 16.7486 trillion KRW, Operating Profit of 1.3872 trillion KRW
SK Broadband IPTV Leads Net Increase, SK Stoa Also Grows
Redefining Business Around 5 Major Sectors... Accelerating Innovation

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] SK Telecom (SKT) announced on the 9th that it recorded consolidated financial results for the year 2021 with annual sales of KRW 16.7486 trillion, operating profit of KRW 1.3872 trillion, and net profit of KRW 2.419 trillion. Through balanced growth across all business areas, consolidated sales and operating profit grew by 4.1% and 11.1%, respectively, compared to the previous year. Net profit increased by 61.2% year-on-year to KRW 2.419 trillion, driven by equity-method gains from SK Hynix.

5G Cumulative Customers Surpass 10 Million

SKT solidified its leadership in the mobile telecommunications business by surpassing 10 million cumulative 5G customers in January this year. Last year, on a separate basis, annual sales grew 3.0% year-on-year to KRW 12.1028 trillion, and operating profit increased 8.9% to KRW 1.1143 trillion.

SK Broadband achieved record-high sales of KRW 4.0492 trillion, up 9.0% from the previous year. Operating profit rose 19.4% year-on-year to KRW 275.6 billion. SK Broadband ranked first in net IPTV subscriber growth for three consecutive quarters starting from Q2 2021.

SK Stoa also maintained its position as the number one player in the T-commerce (commerce via TV) market by sales. SK Stoa recorded a total gross merchandise volume (GMV) of KRW 1.3 trillion last year, continuing a steep average annual growth rate of 48% since 2018.

Redefining Business Around Five Core Sectors

Declaring its transformation into an artificial intelligence (AI) & digital service company, SKT regards this year as the inaugural year of SKT 2.0 and a year to prepare for the next decade.

Based on solid performance, SKT plans to redefine its business around five core sectors: ▲wired and wireless communications ▲media business ▲enterprise business ▲AIVERSE (AI+Universe) ▲connected intelligence, accelerating future growth while maintaining a shareholder-friendly management stance.

The wired and wireless communications business will strengthen competitiveness through synergy with SK Broadband based on 5G leadership. The media business will expand platform competitiveness into content, T-commerce, and advertising businesses, driven by an increase in paid broadcasting subscribers.

The enterprise business, which focuses on B2B transactions, will advance its digital infrastructure business by expanding data center scale, entering global markets, and providing cloud services utilizing 5G mobile edge computing (MEC) technology. Alongside this, SKT plans to actively expand its smart factory business centered on AI.

The AIVERSE business will introduce new AI-based services alongside innovations in ‘T Uju’ and ‘ifland’.

‘T Uju’ successfully established itself in the market by achieving a total GMV of KRW 350 billion within four months of launch and tripling overseas direct purchase transactions on 11st. Notably, 70% of ‘T Uju’ subscribers are aged between 20 and 40, indicating rapid growth among younger demographics. Going forward, SKT plans to continuously improve customer convenience by expanding Amazon products and adding sharing and gifting features.

‘ifland,’ which surpassed 1.1 million monthly active users (MAU), has received over 1,500 partnership requests from various companies and institutions. SKT plans to sustain growth by introducing an open platform allowing external partners to participate, implementing its own economic system, and pursuing global expansion.

SKT will accelerate future innovation and actively develop growth engines for the next decade through its connected intelligence business, which links future devices such as urban air mobility (UAM), autonomous vehicles, and robots. In the UAM business, SKT is pursuing ultra-collaboration with global companies like Joby and participating in government demonstration projects to secure a leading position in the UAM market.

Continued Pursuit of Shareholder-Friendly Management

Additionally, SKT will continue its shareholder-friendly management policy based on solid financial performance. SKT sets its dividend resources at 30-40% of ‘EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) minus CapEx (capital expenditures)’ to enhance transparency and predictability of dividends, and will maintain quarterly dividends implemented since the end of Q2 last year.

SKT CEO Yoo Young-sang said, "Last year, we sustained balanced growth across all business areas including the MNO business, IPTV, and T-commerce. This year, we will redefine our business around five core sectors to accelerate growth and innovation, increase shareholder value, and achieve sales of KRW 23 trillion by 2025."

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