SK Telecom achieved results in the artificial intelligence (AI) business sector, recording growth in its earnings for the first quarter of 2025. However, this performance does not reflect the impact of the 'USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module) information theft' due to hacking attacks.
SK Telecom announced that its consolidated earnings for the first quarter of this year totaled 4.4537 trillion won in revenue, 567.4 billion won in operating profit, and 361.6 billion won in net profit, according to a disclosure on the 12th. While revenue decreased by 0.5% compared to the same period last year, operating profit increased by 13.8%. Net profit decreased by 0.1% compared to the first quarter of last year.
SK Telecom attributed the growth in operating profit to achievements in areas such as AI transformation (AIX) and data center (DC) operations. However, revenue slightly decreased due to the impact of the sale of some subsidiaries undertaken last year.
In the securities market, there are analyses indicating that although SK Telecom achieved improved results in the first quarter of this year, growth may slow in the second quarter. From the announcement of the breach on the 22nd of last month to the 8th of this month, it was reported that 274,743 customers switched from SK Telecom to KT and LG Uplus. This amounts to about 18,000 customers leaving daily on a business day basis. SK Telecom has been conducting free USIM replacements and has fully suspended new customer registrations, including number transfers, at over 2,600 T World stores nationwide since the 5th. The financial impact of subscriber churn due to this hacking incident is expected to be reflected in the second-quarter results.
Jeong Won-seok, a Shinyoung Securities researcher, noted, "Assuming that new customer acquisition is restricted until June, and reflecting an average daily churn of 15,000 in May and 5,000 in June (Bear Scenario), the estimated annual earnings decrease for 2025 is about 150 billion won." He also stated, "Assuming that 10 million subscribers replace their USIMs (with an estimated cost of 4,000 won), the one-time USIM replacement cost is estimated to be around 40 billion won."
◇AI data center utilization rate rises
In the first quarter of this year, SK Telecom recorded 102 billion won in revenue from its AI DC business sector. This represents a growth of 11.1% compared to the same period last year, driven by increased data center capacity and utilization. The company stated, "The AI DC business has established itself as a growth sector, achieving over 100 billion won in revenue per quarter," and added, "We plan to expedite the construction of hyper-scale AI DCs in the mid to long term."
In the AIX sector, SK Telecom recorded 45.2 billion won in revenue, growing 27.2% compared to the same period last year. Strengthening AI marketing in the business-to-business (B2B) sector has positively impacted performance.
Adot surpassed 9 million cumulative subscribers, demonstrating results in the AI service sector. The global AI agent service 'Aster' opened its beta service in the United States at the end of March.
SK Telecom has decided on a dividend of 830 won per share for the first quarter of this year. The dividend record date is May 31.
◇"The company focuses all its efforts on customer protection"
On the same day as the first quarter earnings announcement, SK Telecom shared the latest developments in response to the recently surfaced breach incident. The company has elevated its abnormal authentication attempt blocking system (FDS) to the highest level for customer protection. Automatic enrollment in the USIM protection service has been completed for all applicable customers.
In addition, the company is implementing free USIM replacements for customers who wish to participate. As of the 11th, a total of 1.47 million customers have completed the replacement. Also, starting from this day, the company began implementing a 'USIM resetting' solution, which blocks USIM duplication by changing some information of the existing USIM without replacing the physical USIM. It has also upgraded its USIM protection service to ensure information protection while roaming abroad.
SK Telecom will also form a 'Customer Trust Recovery Committee' with participation from external experts and customers. Kim Yang-seob, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of SK Telecom, said, "Taking this cyber breach incident as an opportunity, we will reflect on our business and management as a whole and further enhance our core competitiveness," adding, "We will focus all our resources on customer protection to maintain the trust we've built over the past 40 years."