SKT Sees 5.3% Drop in Q1 Operating Profit Due to Hacking Impact...AI Data Center Business Shows Positive Signs

Quarterly Operating Profit Recovers to 500 Billion Won Range

SK Telecom SKT Tower Exterior View

On May 7, SK Telecom announced in a regulatory filing that, on a consolidated basis, it posted revenue of 4.3923 trillion won and operating profit of 537.6 billion won for the first quarter of this year, representing decreases of 1.4% and 5.3%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Net profit stood at 316.4 billion won, down 12.5% year-on-year.

Although last year's performance was dampened by the impact of hacking incidents, the company began to show signs of gradual recovery in the first quarter of this year. However, declines in wireless subscribers last year continue to affect mobile service revenue.

An SKT representative stated, "Following last year's hacking incident, company-wide efforts to improve productivity have enabled us to recover operating profit to the 500 billion won range on a quarterly basis for the first time," adding, "Profitability in the AI business is also improving."

SKT is also resuming quarterly dividends to enhance shareholder returns. The dividend for the first quarter is set at 830 won per share.

In the first quarter of this year, SKT achieved a net increase of approximately 210,000 mobile subscribers. Mobile service revenue rose by 1.7% compared to the previous quarter. To prevent customer churn, the company recently revamped its membership program to offer greater benefits and enhance user convenience. SKT is also working on revising rate plans to expand customer choice.

Wired business subsidiary SK Broadband recorded revenue of 1.1498 trillion won and operating profit of 116.6 billion won, marking increases of 3.2% and 21.4%, respectively, compared to the same period last year, driven by growth in the high-speed internet sector.

AI DC Business Sees 89.3% Surge in Q1 Revenue

SKT's AI business is focusing on improving profitability through a strategy of "selection and concentration." The AI data center (DC) business recorded first-quarter revenue of 131.4 billion won, a sharp increase of 89.3% compared to the same period last year. Utilization rates at data centers such as Gasan have risen, and revenue from GPUaaS (GPU as a Service) has also grown.

With global big tech companies driving soaring demand for AI infrastructure, SKT plans to strengthen its competitiveness across the entire AI DC value chain and continuously expand its infrastructure hubs.

The company is also expanding its entry into the AI B2B (business-to-business) market. As a "full-stack" operator encompassing AI infrastructure, models, and services, SKT intends to leverage its accumulated experience in the enterprise sector to aggressively pursue the AI B2B market. To this end, SKT recently established an enterprise integration team directly under the CEO.

In the AI B2C (business-to-consumer) sector, SKT aims to enhance its fundamental competitiveness by creating synergies between its AI agent business and the telecommunications industry. In particular, its flagship AI service, "A.Dot," will improve performance by integrating a proprietary AI foundation model at a global standard to bolster its competitive edge.

SKT CFO Park Jongseok said, "The first quarter was a meaningful period in which we delivered tangible results aligned with our goal for this year—to reinforce our fundamental competitiveness centered on customer value and to restore profitability through a focused AI business." He added, "We will continue to focus on generating consistent results to drive performance recovery going forward."

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