SK Telecom CEO Jung Jai-hun. The mobile carrier’s second-quarter operating profit increased 67.3% from a year earlier. Photo by SK Telecom
SEoUL, Aug. 5 (UPI) — South Korea’s SK Telecom said Wednesday its second-quarter operating profit was $400 million, up 67.3% from a year earlier, and revenue edged up 0.5% to $3.1 billion.
The country’s top mobile carrier noted its core telecommunications business remained resilient and that new sources, such as AI data centers, also helped drive strong earnings.
During the April-June period, sales from AI data centers nearly doubled to $96 million. Until now, its fixed-line telecom affiliate SK Broadband has been in charge of the fast-growing business.
To speed its expansion into the AI data center sector, SK Telecom established SK Hyper last month as a dedicated affiliate focused on the potential-laden areas.
SK Hyper plans to concentrate on securing critical resources, including land and power capacity, while attracting global customers and accelerating project development, according to SK Telecom.
Under a phased development plan led by SK Hyper, SK Telecom aims to bring AI data centers with a combined capacity of 5 gigawatts online by 2029.
“In the first half of this year, we strengthened our internal capabilities based on stable revenues from the telecom business and laid the groundwork for the rapid expansion of our AI data center business,” CFO Park Jong-seok said in a statement.
“We will do our utmost to ensure that we play a leading role in helping South Korea leap forward as Asia’s AI infrastructure hub,” he added.
The share price of SK Telecom rose 1.75% on the Seoul bourse on Wednesday, while the benchmark KOSPI gained 3.76%.
