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[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] KT did well in the second quarter despite the uncertain business environment due to the leadership gap.
It has also achieved tangible results in its main business, the robust growth of the telecommunications industry and non-communication new businesses represented by media, cloud and digital transformation (DX).
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure on the 7th, consolidated operating profit for the KT 2 quarter rose 25.5% year-on-year to 576.1 billion won. Sales rose 3.7 percent to 6.5475 trillion won. It is an earning surprise that exceeds market expectations.
First of all, 5G lines with high average sales per subscriber (ARPU) accounted for 68% of the total handset with 9.28 million subscribers, maintaining solid growth centered on premium subscribers. Digico and B2B platform business orders grew 19% compared to the same period last year, and B2B communication sales increased 7.6%. Digico and B2C sales also grew 3.8% from the same period last year on the back of even growth in the media and mobile platform businesses.
In addition, the group's consolidated subsidiaries have proved their growth potential focusing on key portfolios such as finance, real estate, content, and digital transformation (DX). Profit contribution of group companies in the second quarter was 168.6 billion won, a sharp increase from the previous quarter (98 billion won).
However, the combined operating profit for the first half of the year is 1.62 trillion won, up 2.2% from the same period last year. KT's market capitalization, which surpassed 10 trillion won last year amid slowing growth in the telecommunications industry and unfavorable governance, has shrunk to around 8 trillion won in a year. The key is to make a rebound in performance in the second half of the year when CEO Kim Young-sup's system is in full operation.
Kim is a financial expert who served as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at LG Uplus. From 2015 to last year, he led the LG CNS and led the performance improvement. LG CNS operating profit, which was 83.9 billion won in 2015, increased 4.6 times to 385.4 billion won last year. KT's board of directors and labor unions also expected Kim to be the right person to lead the KT business based on his understanding of information and communication technology (ICT) as a whole and communication industry.
KT plans to hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting at the KT Research and Development Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 30th and vote on the appointment of Kim as CEO.
AlphaBIZ 김지선(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
