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Decision to purchase 300 billion won of treasury stock
“Leading the digital transformation market for business-to-business transactions”
Gwanghwamun KT office building. Photo = Hankyung DB
KT(22,900 + 0.22%)On the 6th it was announced that consolidated sales and operating profit for the third quarter of this year were KRW 6.1.2 billion and KRW 292.4 billion, 3.4% and 6.4% less than in the same period last year, respectively. During this period, net income alone increased 7.9% to 231 billion won.
Sales decreased 3.4% compared to the same period last year, affected by the decrease in the sales of terminals and group companies in the wake of Corona 19 (a new coronavirus infection). However, as business-to-business (B2B) businesses such as wireless Internet television (IPTV), artificial intelligence (AI), and digital conversion (DX) grew, service sales increased by 0.8 %. The operating result decreased compared to the same period of the previous year due to the increase in labor costs due to the settlement of collective wage bargaining.
KT announced that it has decided to enter into a trust agreement to acquire treasury shares worth 300 billion won to enhance shareholder value through share price stabilization. The company explained: “By leading the B2B business and buying treasury shares, we are trying to enhance the corporate value promised by Lee Sang-mo and strengthen shareholder performance.”
By business division, the mobile telephony business increased 0.9% year-on-year thanks to the expansion of 5G (5G) subscribers. Cumulative 5G subscribers in the third quarter were 2.81 million, roughly 20% of KT’s mobile phone subscribers. The ‘Super Plan Choice Plan’, which includes content benefits like video and music in an unlimited 5G plan, has garnered a favorable response from consumers and recently launched the Netflix bundle plan, expanding the options.
Broadband Internet and fixed line sales fell 0.3% and 7.0%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. The company said: “In the case of high-speed Internet, the home Internet environment, such as working from home and online education, became important, and user satisfaction was maximized with ‘GiGA Wi’, which provides a giga Wi-Fi environment regardless of location.
The IPTV business posted double-digit growth in both net subscriber growth and sales, maintaining its position as the number one provider in the pay TV market. The net increase of 128,000 subscribers in the third quarter of last 3Q due to the strengthening of competitiveness, such as the Netflix alliance, reached 8.68 million subscribers. With the conclusion of the home shopping streaming rate negotiations, sales increased 11.9% year-on-year.
The AI · DX business, which took the expansion of digital conversion demand as a new growth engine, showed a strong increase in accumulated sales in the third quarter, increasing by 17% compared to the same period last year. At the end of last month, KT introduced a new B2B brand, ‘KT Enterprise’, and declared itself a leading DX B2B company.
Korea’s number one data center operator KT opened its thirteenth data center in Yongsan on the 4th to differentiate between ‘ABCs’ as artificial intelligence (AI), big data and cloud based on the strength of its infrastructure. net. You are starting to target the B2B market seriously with the developed platform.
Sales of some group companies were affected by Corona 19. BC Card sales fell 0.6% year-on-year due to reduced travel and consumption, and real estate sales in the hotel business fell 39.4% year-on-year. Sales of content subsidiaries increased 8.6% thanks to strong advertising and e-commerce businesses.
KT Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Yoon Kyung-geun said: “Despite the prolonged COVID-19 outbreak, we are creating stable management performance and strengthening shareholder return through dividend policy and purchase of treasury shares “. We will do everything possible to lead and continue to grow. “
Journalist Jo Ara Hankyung.com [email protected]
