Seoul, Korea, April 30, 2009 – SK Telecom announced its earnings for the first quarter of 2009: revenue of 2.877 trillion won (US$2.15 billion), operating income of 564 billion won (US$422.4 million) and net income of 316.7 billion won (US$237.2 million).
The revenue marked 2.877 trillion won (US$2.15 billion), dropping by 4.3% compared to the previous quarter partly due to shorter business days. However, the figure climbed by 1.4% year-on-year, backed by gradual increase in the number of subscribers.
Wireless internet revenue in the first quarter stood at 624.9 billion won (US$468.1 million), falling by 0.3% quarter-on-quarter, resulting from the sale of the company’s music business MelOn to LOEN Entertainment. Yet on a year-on-year basis, the figure expanded by 4.6% from growth in flat rate data plan subscribers and phone mail use.
Marketing expenses marked 660.7 billion won (US$494.9 million), contracting 13.8% year-on-year even in the face of seasonal demands related to the start of new school year, thanks to effective market stabilizing efforts and the company’s cost-cutting measures.
Operating income amounted to 564 billion won (US$422.4 million), increasing by 1.8% compared to the same period last year. Net income reached 316.7 billion won (US$237.2 million) or decreased 17.3% year-on-year due to an increase in valuation losses, triggered by foreign exchange rate increases and interest rate fluctuations.
Furthermore, SK Telecom announced that it executed capital expenditure (CAPEX) of 348.4 billion won (US$261.0 million), representing a 25.3% rise year-on-year, with the aim to secure WCDMA capacity and improve call quality.
The cumulative number of subscribers climbed by 4% year-on-year to reach 23.35 million and average revenue per user (ARPU) edged down by 3% year-on-year to 41,372, resulting from increasing number of discount plan subscribers and decreasing number of new subscribers as the market stabilized.
In particular, the company’s revenue marked a relatively small growth when considering the 4% year-on-year increase in cumulative number of subscribers, showing that an increasing number of customers are enjoying wider benefits by joining discount plans and purchasing bundled products.
SK Telecom’s CFO Dong-Hyun Jang said: “The Korean mobile telecommunications market continued to stabilize in the first quarter of 2009. SK Telecom will maintain market leadership by providing innovative services based on a new customer experience management program and launching various bundled products.”
