SKT Soars in Q2 Earnings...Bright Outlook for AI Data Center Business (Comprehensive)

Operating Profit Soars 67.3% to 566.0 Billion Won
Data Center Revenue Jumps 92.5% to 136.2 Billion Won

SK Telecom saw a significant increase in its second-quarter operating profit, driven by a base effect from temporary expenditures related to last year's hacking incident and the rapid growth of its data center business.

On the 5th, SKT announced that, on a consolidated basis, its second-quarter revenue was 4.3591 trillion won and its operating profit was 566 billion won, marking increases of 0.5% and 67.3%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Net profit for the period surged to 466 billion won, up 459.8% from 83.2 billion won in the same period last year.

The sharp rise in operating profit is attributed to a base effect from temporary costs incurred due to last year’s hacking. The company quickly regained 5G subscribers through aggressive customer acquisition campaigns and saw further improvement in results thanks to the Samsung Electronics Customer Appreciation Festival held in the second quarter.

Cost savings from workforce reduction and the growth of SK Broadband (SKB) also contributed to profitability. SKB’s second-quarter revenue reached 1.16 trillion won and its operating profit came to 56.6 billion won, up 3.6% and 44.3%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

SKT’s AI data center (DC) business, which the company has identified as a future growth engine, recorded the fastest growth among all business segments. AI DC revenue for the second quarter reached 136.2 billion won—up 92.5% year-on-year—driven by increased operational capacity. AI DC revenue accounts for approximately 3.1% of SKT’s consolidated revenue.

SKT explained that, as the use of generative artificial intelligence spreads across industries and demand for high-performance computing infrastructure surges, execution capability to provide the desired AI infrastructure to global big tech clients in a timely manner is crucial.

Exterior view of SK Telecom SKT Tower.

Last month, SKT established 'SK Hyper', a subsidiary dedicated to developing its AI DC business, securing momentum for ongoing business expansion. SK Hyper plans to proactively secure essential elements such as data center sites and power resources, rapidly boost operational execution, and attract global clients to seize market leadership at an early stage.

Centered around SK Hyper, SKT aims to reach a first-stage goal of operating 5GW (gigawatts) of AI DC facilities in phases by 2029. Starting in 2029, the company will sequentially expand from Ulsan and two locations in the Seoul metropolitan area toward a total of 5GW, and will add another 10GW after 2035.

In its core telecommunications business, SKT achieved net growth in handset subscribers by discovering new customer segments and through differentiated campaigns and marketing. According to the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KTOA), SKT’s net increase in mobile subscribers via number portability reached 156,842 between January and July this year. In July, SKT launched an integrated 5G/LTE rate plan and restructured its overall fee system to further enhance customer value.

The second-quarter dividend has been set at 830 won per share, the same as the first quarter. The record date is the 31st of this month, with payment scheduled for the 17th of next month.

Paik Jongseok, SKT Chief Financial Officer (CFO), said, "In the first half of the year, we consolidated our fundamentals based on stable profits from our telecommunications operations, while laying the foundation for the rapid expansion of the AI data center business. Going forward, SKT will do its utmost to play a leading role in establishing South Korea as Asia’s AI infrastructure hub."

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