SK Telecom's net income grows 44.3 per cent

South Korean operator SK Telecom has seen a modest year on year increase in revenue for FY2013, but recorded a 44.3 per cent increase in consolidated net income.

The operator generated KRW16.6tn ($15.4bn) in revenue during the year, an increase of 2.9 per cent year on year. Operating income grew by a more substantial 16.2 per cent year on year to reach KRW2.0tn, while consolidated net income hit KRW1.6tn.

The firm said that its revenue was boosted by strengthened leadership in the country’s LTE market and new business growth, while operating income grew as a result of programmes focused on enhancing existing customers’ benefits, such as the handset discount programme and data refill service it introduced during the year. SK Telecom added that the surge it saw in consolidated net income was driven by subsidiaries such as semiconductor supplier SK Hynix.

The operator said it closed out 2013 with 13.5 million LTE subscribers; around 50 per cent of its mobile subscriber base. Average subscriber churn over the year dropped by 0.3 per cent to 2.3 per cent, although the operator noted that churn decreased sequentially over the four quarters and stood at 2.1 per cent in 4Q13.

Revenue for its enterprise solutions business also grew 60 per cent year on year to reach KRW434bn.

“In 2013, SK Telecom was able to lead the market towards a service/product-oriented competition, while securing a solid foundation for new growth businesses,” said SK Telecom CFO Hwang Soo-cheol.

“Going forward, SK Telecom will maintain its unrivalled market leadership through more sophisticated network technologies and innovative data services that meet the needs and interest of customers.”

In November last year, the operator demonstrated a virtualised Evolved Packet Core proof-of-concept implementation, which it followed in January with a demonstration of its LTE-Advanced tri-band carrier aggregation technology. The operator added that it aims to accelerate the development and application of these network technologies over the course of 2014.