SK Telecom Q2 profit increases 11.4%
SK Telecom has posted 359.5 billion won in operating profit and sales of 4.6 trillion won for the second quarter, the company said on Thursday.
It is an increase of 11.4% and 3.7%, respectively, from the same period a year ago.
This was in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic being prolonged, which forced the telco to increase spending for its 5G network expansions, it said.
The South Korean carrier said the boost in earnings came from its businesses offering remote services. Combined, its media, security, and commerce businesses saw a sales increase of 13.4% compared to last year, SK Telecom said.
Its media business, which includes IPTV services, saw sales jump 16.2% year on year to 918.4 billion won, the company said.
Meanwhile, the security business saw sales rise 8.7% compared to a year prior thanks to increased demand for thermal imaging cameras and access security solutions in light of coronavirus.
Its online mall service, called 11th Street, also saw more transactions during the second quarter to help the commerce business increase sales by 8.5% year on year to 192.6 billion won, the carrier said.
SK Telecom’s wireless business also saw sales increase by 3.2% to around 2.94 trillion won.
The upswing is in contrast to its previous quarter when the telco saw a 6.4% year-on-year drop year in operating profit due to the COVID-19 pandemic lowering smartphone demand.
It was also revealed earlier this week that SK Telecom has the highest average download speed for its 5G network at 789Mbps among the three major telcos, according to measurements done by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
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Article source: https://www.zdnet.com/article/sk-telecom-q2-profit-increases-11-4/#ftag=RSSbaffb68