SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) today reported its financial results on a K-IFRS consolidated basis for the third quarter 2017: including revenue of KRW 4.4427 trillion, operating income of KRW 392.4 billion and net income of KRW 793 billion.

The revenue increased by 4.7% compared to the same period last year, driven by more wireless network subscribers as well as the stronger performances of its major subsidiaries including SK Broadband and SK Planet. The operating income decreased by 7.5% due to its increased marketing expenses and depreciation costs. Also, the net income increased 146.2% compared to the same period last year due to higher gains on equity method investment in SK Hynix.

The company added 705,000 subscribers compared to the same period last year, bringing its total to 30.16 million by the end of the third quarter. Among them, LTE data users account for 74.8%, or 22.57 million.

Such a strong customer loyalty has benefitted SK Telecom in the subscriber loss rate, an indicator of service satisfaction among the existing customers, which has remained below 2% for ten quarters in a row. In addition, the company ranked 1st in the wireless network category of the nation’s top three customer satisfaction surveys—NCSI, KS-SQI and KCSI—winning the grand slam this year.

SK Brandband’s revenue increased by 1.2% to KRW 760.2 billion compared to the same period last year on a net increase in IPTV subscription and paid content sales. It recorded operating income of KRW 29.8 billion. Also, Oksusu, a mobile media platform of SK Telecom, added 630,000 subscribers for the third quarter, sending the total to 8.11 million, a consistent growth in the media business.

SK Planet posted KRW 285.1 billion in revenue, up 5.8% year-on-year, due to the growth of its online commerce business 11st. Better performance has contributed to the reduction of its loss to KRW 55.2 billion, a decrease of KRW 41.4 billion from a year ago. Also, record-breaking quarterly earnings of SK Hynix boosted consolidated net income.

Meanwhile, SK Telecom continues to explore opportunities in new businesses such as AI, IoT and autonomous driving, to lay the foundation for its mid- and long-term growth. The company successfully extended its artificial intelligence-based platform NUGU to T Map and Kids Phone, delivering the enhanced convenience to customers, while helping the platform build up more data for voice recognition. In the IoT segment, the company partnered with 30 construction companies to apply its smart home service to 13,000 households. Also, it continues to extend its IoT ecosystem by connecting the smart home system with 350 home appliances produced by 65 makers. In addition, it closely works with a variety of technology partners including NVIDIA to develop autonomous driving capabilities.

Summary of Consolidated Income Stateme

(Unit: KRW 1 Billion)

Summary of Separate Income Statement

 (Unit: KRW 1 Billion)