SK Telecom (017670) Q3 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q3 2025 saw consolidated revenue fall 12.2% year-over-year to KRW 3.9781 trillion, mainly due to a major cybersecurity incident and the Customer Appreciation Package, while SKB revenue grew on data center business strength.

• Operating income dropped 90.9% year-over-year to KRW 48.4 billion, with consolidated net loss at KRW 166.7 billion, impacted by a KRW 134.8 billion regulatory penalty.

• Non-consolidated revenue fell 16.8% year-over-year to KRW 2.6647 trillion, with a non-consolidated net loss of KRW 206.6 billion.

• Accountability and Commitment Program and Customer Appreciation Package led to substantial customer compensation and operational restructuring.

• Recovery efforts are underway in core telecom business, with gradual improvement in subscriber trends and new digital service launches.

Financial highlights

• EBITDA for Q3 2025 was KRW 946.2 billion, down 34.9% year-over-year, with an EBITDA margin of 23.8%.

• CapEx for Q3 2025 was KRW 457 billion, up 0.9% year-over-year and up 28.0% sequentially.

• SKB revenue increased 3.4% year-over-year to KRW 1.14 trillion, with operating income up 1.5%.

• AI business revenue grew 35.7% year-over-year, with AI DC revenue up 53.8% to KRW 149.8 billion.

• No dividend declared for Q3 due to unprecedented financial deterioration.

Outlook and guidance

• Q4 mobile revenue expected to decline further, but at a much smaller scale than Q3 as customer compensation programs wind down.

• Operating profit outlook for Q4 remains cautious due to typical year-end spending.

• Operations expected to normalize in 2026, with efforts to restore dividends to pre-incident levels.

• AI business expected to drive mid- to long-term growth, with momentum from AI DC and AIX.

• Shareholder return policy targets more than 50% of adjusted net profit for FY2024–2026.