SK Telecom posted weak results last year due to the impact of a USIM hacking incident. This year it is seeking a turnaround based on artificial intelligence (AI).

SKT said on Feb. 5 it recorded 17.1 trillion won in consolidated revenue and 1.07 trillion won in operating profit in 2025. That was down 4.7 percent and 41.1 percent, respectively, from a year earlier. Net profit also fell 73 percent to 375.1 billion won over the same period.

Operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2025 was 119.1 billion won, down 53.1 percent from a year earlier. Revenue fell 4.05 percent to 4.33 trillion won and net profit dropped 75.4 percent to 97.0 billion won over the same period.

AI results to focus on priorities...AI to be adopted across telecom

SKT launched an in-house independent AI company (CIC) last year. This year it plans to strengthen fundamentals by focusing on priorities that deliver tangible business results.

Revenue related to AI data centres totalled 519.9 billion won last year, up 34.9 percent from a year earlier. Higher utilisation at the Seoul Gasan and Gyeonggi Yangju data centres and the acquisition of the Pangyo data centre drove the increase in revenue.

The Ulsan AI data centre being developed with Amazon Web Services (AWS) broke ground in September last year. SKT is set to start construction this year on an additional data centre in the Seoul area. SKT plans to strengthen its data centre solution business this year and increase synergies with its AI data centre business by expanding its subsea cable business.

It also expects to secure opportunities in various AI businesses in the future based on the government's project for an independent AI foundation model.

5G subscribers stood at 17.49 million as of the end of last year, up by about 230,000 from the third quarter of the same year. Fixed-line subscribers, including broadband internet, also recovered in the fourth quarter to the net-add level seen before the hacking incident. Telecom-related business-to-business revenue edged up to 1.90 trillion won last year from 1.89 trillion won in 2024.

SKT will introduce AI this year across all existing telecom areas, including products and marketing, networks and distribution channels. For example, it will use AI-based automation from network design to build-out and operations to boost productivity.

It will upgrade AI-based customer lifetime value (LTV) modelling to offer tailored products, membership benefits and distribution channels for individual customers. Customer lifetime value is a key indicator showing the company-customer relationship, reflecting the total value generated during the period a customer uses a specific service.

"Number portability market stabilised...pushing product structure overhaul"

The company assessed that any spillover effect from an unauthorised small-amount payment incident at KT would not last long. At an earnings conference call, Bae Byung-chan (배병찬), head of SKT's MNO support office, said, "The number portability market size temporarily expanded early this year due to a rival's move to waive cancellation fees, but overall market stabilisation took place afterwards." He said, "A significant portion of customers who flowed into our company during that period are judged to be returning customers who had left after last year's hacking incident."

On its outlook for wireless revenue this year, it said it plans to minimise the revenue impact through a continued recovery in subscribers throughout the year while pushing various measures to overcome slower growth, including finding new customers.

Bae also said, "Rather than wasteful marketing competition for short-term targets, we will strengthen our fundamental competitiveness centred on innovating customer value." He added, "We are currently pushing a structural overhaul across products and overall market operations."

SKT was cautious in commenting on the value of its stake in U.S. firm Anthropic. SKT has recently experienced a sharp rise in its share price. The securities industry views this as an expectation effect stemming from an increase in Anthropic's corporate value following SKT's earlier investment.

SKT said, "It is difficult to disclose the exact stake ratio due to a contractual confidentiality clause," and added, "We periodically revalue investment assets and will update the stake ratio soon through a business report."

SKT has decided not to pay a year-end dividend for 2025 due to the impact of last year's USIM hacking incident. The company previously did not pay a dividend for the third quarter of 2025 either.

Park Jong-seok (박종석), SKT's chief financial officer (CFO), said regarding this year's dividend, "We will make normalising performance our top priority," adding, "We will do our best to pay dividends at the level of previous years." Instead, SKT plans to review measures to enhance shareholder value, including tax-free dividends.