SK Telecom (017670) Q2 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q2 2025 was significantly impacted by a major cybersecurity incident, resulting in subscriber losses, revenue decline, and increased costs for customer protection and compensation.

• Consolidated revenue for Q2 2025 was KRW 4.3388 trillion, with operating income of KRW 338.3 billion and net income of KRW 83.2 billion, reflecting sharp year-over-year declines due to one-time costs.

• AI business grew 13.9% year-over-year, with AIDC and AIX segments showing double-digit growth.

• Launched major customer assurance and compensation programs, including SIM protection, free security solutions, and tariff discounts.

• The company is focused on restoring customer trust, strengthening business fundamentals, and long-term value creation.

Financial highlights

• Consolidated revenue was KRW 4,338.8 billion in Q2 2025, down 1.9% year-over-year due to subscriber losses and subsidiary sales.

• Operating income fell 37.1% year-over-year to KRW 338.3 billion, reflecting one-off costs of about KRW 250 billion.

• Net income dropped 76.2% year-over-year to KRW 83.2 billion.

• Non-consolidated revenue was KRW 3.1351 trillion, down 1.8% year-over-year; SK Broadband revenue rose 2.4% year-over-year to KRW 1.12 trillion.

• SK Broadband operating income increased 9.8% year-over-year to KRW 91.8 billion.

Outlook and guidance

• Annual revenue guidance was lowered from KRW 17.8 trillion to KRW 17 trillion due to the incident's financial impact.

• Operating profit for 2025 is expected to decline significantly compared to the prior year, with larger financial impact anticipated in the second half from customer compensation programs.

• 2025 consolidated revenue guidance revised down by KRW 800 billion due to customer churn and compensation packages.

• AIDC business targets annual revenue of over KRW 1 trillion by 2030; Ulsan AIDC with AWS to begin operations in 2027, expanding capacity to over 300 MW.