SEOUL: South Korea's top wireless operator SK Telecom reported a 71 percent surge in fourth quarter net profit Thursday, boosted by the strong performance of its affiliates and increased subscriptions.
Net profit for October-December amounted to 503.3 billion won ($465 million), while the annual profit total was up 11.8 percent at 1.79 trillion won.
The stellar performance in the final quarter was driven by chip-making affiliate, SK Hynix, which said on Wednesday that its own fourth quarter net profit soared 106 percent to a record high of 1.6 trillion won.
SK Telecom shares rose 0.53 percent, or 1,500 won, to 287,000 won after the announcement.
Competition is fierce in the increasingly saturated wireless market in South Korea, which has some 37 million smartphone users, out of a total population of 50 million.
Wireless operators have tried to boost profits by drawing more customers to faster, higher-priced services.
SK Telecom said 16.73 million subscribers now use LTE services and it plans to commercialise 5G services in 2020.
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