Illustration=Son Min-kyun

The combined operating profit of the three major telecommunications companies exceeded 4 trillion won for three consecutive years but is expected to have decreased to around 3 trillion won last year. The main cause is analyzed to be KT's implementation of a large-scale workforce reallocation, which incurred one-time expenditure.

According to the industry on the 27th, the combined operating profit forecast for the three telecommunications companies last year was about 3.5 trillion won, a decrease of approximately 19% from the previous year's 4.4 trillion won. This reflects the end of a growth trend that had been continuing since 2021.

KT's operating profit is estimated to have dropped 48.36% compared to the previous year, amounting to 851.9 billion won. This is due to the transfer to a network operation subsidiary and the special voluntary retirement of 2,800 employees, leading to an increase in labor costs of about 1 trillion won. Consequently, KT is expected to have recorded an operating loss of about 716.8 billion won in the fourth quarter of last year.

However, given that these costs are one-time expenses, a long-term profit increase is anticipated due to future reductions in labor costs. As of the 24th, KT's market capitalization was approximately 11.84 trillion won, surpassing SK Telecom by about 70 billion won.

SK Telecom's operating profit last year was 1.8501 trillion won, a 5.53% increase from the previous year, making it the only company among the three to record growth. Particularly, it showed strong performance in B2B sectors such as AI-based data centers and cloud services; however, an additional expense of about 80 billion won was incurred due to voluntary retirements in the fourth quarter, limiting the annual growth.

LG Uplus's operating profit last year was 863.1 billion won, a decrease of 13.5% compared to the previous year, and the net profit also decreased by 44%. This was influenced by increased marketing expenses and a loss of about 130 billion won at its subsidiary LG HelloVision.

The securities market expects that the combined operating profit of the three telecommunications companies will exceed 5 trillion won for the first time this year. SK Telecom's achievements from the AI data center and the impending launch of the AI personal assistant service 'Aster' in the North American market are anticipated, while KT is expected to see growth in the B2B and media sectors based on its collaboration with Microsoft. LG Uplus is also expected to see a slight increase in profits through the expansion of AI call assistant services.