(LEAD) SK Telecom Q3 net profit down 66.7 pct after spinoff of chip biz

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SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest wireless carrier, said Thursday its third-quarter net profit dropped 66.7 percent from a year earlier due mainly to last year's spinoff of its semiconductor businesses.

The company logged a net profit of 245.6 billion won (US$180.4 million) on a consolidated basis in the three months ending in September, compared with 736.5 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Operating profit went up 18.5 percent on-year to 465.6 billion won, and sales increased 3 percent to 4.34 trillion won.

The earnings failed to meet market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 302.9 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

The company said its on-year decrease in net profit is mainly blamed on the exclusion of equity gains from SK hynix Inc. in its earnings, following the handover of the chipmaking business to SK Square Co. in November last year.

SK Square, the mobile carrier's spinoff investment company, was established last year to oversee SK hynix and other non-telecom tech units under SK Group, including app market operator ONE store, e-commerce platform 11Street and T Map Mobility.

SK Telecom said sales of its internet service provider (ISP) affiliate SK Broadband inched up 1.9 percent to 1.04 trillion won. SK Broadband's operating profit also climbed 1.4 percent to 79.7 billion won.

The company saw its 5G service subscribers reach 12.47 million, accounting for 53 percent of its total mobile handset subscriptions.

SK Telecom said sales of its enterprise business, which provides data center and cloud-related services, also grew 8.9 percent to 378.5 billion won for the third quarter, while its media business posted 395.6 billion won in sales, up 20.6 percent from a year earlier.

brk@yna.co.kr
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