Despite the 'Stock Price Boost' Directive, SKT's Stock Remains Sluggish... SKT's Dilemma

SKT Holds One-Day Analyst Invitation IR
Direct Q&A at Event Venue
SK Square Also Plans IR Event This Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] SK Telecom continues to convey messages related to enhancing corporate value to the market, but concerns are deepening as the company's stock price fails to break out of the undervalued range.

According to the industry on the 16th, SK Telecom held an IR event inviting analysts on the 1st of this month, and SK Square plans to hold an IR event on the 20th of this month. At the event on the 1st, SK Telecom CEO Yoo Young-sang personally visited the venue and took time to answer analysts' questions. In addition to official IR events, unofficial IR events are also being held concurrently.

In a column posted on the company's newsroom the previous day, CEO Yoo emphasized, "At the recent Analyst Day, I expressed my regret that despite our company's high-level performance and dividends, our corporate value has not been adequately recognized," adding, "The CEO will take the lead in writing the growth story and increasing corporate value." To this end, the company plans to embark on an 'AI transformation' by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) across its businesses, including the subscription service ‘T Wooju’.

Despite SK Telecom recording strong performance, such as an operating profit margin of 16% in the second quarter, its stock price closed at 51,200 won as of the 15th, more than 10% lower than at the beginning of the year. The stock price of SK Square, a newly established investment company through the split, also closed at 66,500 won as of the previous day, down more than 35% from the start of the year. Although expectations were high immediately after the split, market disappointment was reflected as the initial public offerings (IPOs) of subsidiaries such as One Store and SK Shieldus were canceled.

Although market conditions are unfavorable, boosting the stock price is one of the urgent tasks for SK Telecom. This is because SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won gave a special order for stock price support to the heads of affiliates at the beginning of the year. This year, the stock price evaluation criteria within the management performance evaluation (KPI) for the heads of affiliates have been raised from 30% to at least 50% or more.

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