SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) announced its earnings on a K-IFRS consolidated basis for the third quarter of 2012: revenue of KRW 4.126 trillion, operating income of KRW 300.7 billion and net income of KRW 175.6 billion.

The revenue increased by 2.0% year-on-year (YoY) and 2.9% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) due to expanded ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) driven by LTE subscriber growth and strong performance of SK Planet, the company’s wholly owned subsidiary. 

ARPU (excluding interconnection and sign-up fees) continued to grow to stand at KRW 33,135 backed by robust LTE subscriber growth.

The operating income decreased by 46.4% YoY and 27.6% QoQ to mark KRW 300.7 billion due to factors including expanded investment in LTE networks and a temporary increase in LTE marketing expenses. The consolidated net income for the third quarter stood at KRW 175.6 billion, 54.2% lower than that of the same period last year but 45.7% higher compared to the previous quarter.

EBITDA for the third quarter stood at KRW 959.9 billion, which is 21.1% lower than the same period last year and 7.7% lower than the previous quarter.

Moreover, investment costs for upgrading its networks including nationwide rollout of LTE recorded KRW 788 billion, increasing by 42.8% compared to the previous year’s KRW 552 billion.

SK Telecom is firmly maintaining its status as a global leading LTE player, securing over 6 million LTE subscribers as of October-end and expects to smoothly achieve the year-end target of 7 million LTE subscribers.

Moreover, SK Telecom said that it expects to see 80% or higher growth in the B2B business, one of its main growth drivers, compared to the same period last year as monthly revenues from enterprise solutions are increasing rapidly thanks to strong collaboration with SK Broadband and SK Telink.

Meanwhile, SK Planet is creating new profit-generating models by fully leveraging its competitiveness in services like T Store and T Map. SK Planet’s online marketplace named 11th Street (11st) saw its revenue for the third quarter exceed KRW 1 trillion. Furthermore, the mobile version of the online shopping site is also rapidly growing in terms of transaction volume.

SK Telecom’s Chief Financial Officer Ahn Seung-yun said, "SK Telecom will build a solid ICT business structure by fully leveraging its solid LTE subscriber growth momentum, B2B business growth and SK Planet’s strong business performance that has been clearly witnessed in the third quarter. In the mobile telecommunications area, SK Telecom will reinforce its status as the global leading LTE service provider by strengthening its core competitiveness in network quality, innovative services and differentiated customer care."