SK Telecom Posts Fall in Q1 Profit
Reuters reports that South Korea's SK Telecom posted an 8.5 percent fall in quarterly profit today, despite picking up more users and higher sales of wireless data services.
"SK, which controls 51 percent of South Korea's mobile phone market, earned a 337.2 billion Won ($356.5 million) net profit in the first quarter to March 31, compared to a 368.4 billion won profit a year earlier," according to the article. "The result missed a 455.2 billion won profit forecast from nine analysts surveyed by Reuters."
The decline in earnings, which is expected to continue in coming quarters, is blamed on the reintroduction of handset subsidies, which could "heat up competition and erode margins" — as well as the wait for new services like WiBro to start turning a profit.