SK Telecom (017670) Q3 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q3 2025 was marked by a significant financial impact from a major cybersecurity incident, leading to a renewed focus on information security, AI capabilities, and operational restructuring.

• Consolidated revenue for Q3 2025 was KRW 3.98tn, down 12.2% year-over-year, mainly due to subscriber attrition and customer compensation, while SKB revenue grew on data center business strength.

• Consolidated operating income dropped 90.9% year-over-year to KRW 48.4bn, and consolidated net loss was KRW 166.7bn, impacted by a KRW 134.8bn regulatory penalty.

• Recovery efforts are underway in the core telecom business, with gradual improvement in subscriber trends and new digital service launches.

• Non-consolidated revenue fell 16.8% year-over-year to KRW 2.67tn, with a non-consolidated net loss of KRW 206.6bn.

Financial highlights

• Consolidated revenue declined 12.2% year-over-year to ₩3,978.1 billion, mainly due to customer compensation measures.

• Operating income dropped 90.9% year-over-year to ₩48.4 billion.

• EBITDA for the quarter was KRW 946.2bn, down 34.9% year-over-year, with EBITDA margin at 23.8%.

• CapEx for Q3 2025 was KRW 457bn, up 0.9% year-over-year and up 28.0% sequentially.

• No dividend declared for Q3 due to unprecedented financial deterioration.

Outlook and guidance

• Q4 mobile revenue expected to decline further, but at a much smaller scale than Q3 as customer compensation programs wind down.

• Operating profit outlook for Q4 remains cautious due to typical year-end spending.

• Operations expected to normalize in 2026, with efforts to restore dividends to pre-incident levels.

• Shareholder return policy targets more than 50% of adjusted net profit for the year on a consolidated basis for FY2024–2026.

• No dividend declared for Q3 2025.