[E-Daily Reporter KIM YOON-JEONG ] NH INVESTMENT & SECURITIES forecast that KTCorporation(030200)will continue to demonstrate balanced growth as new businesses—such as data centers and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure—complement the stable growth of its core telecommunications business. The firm maintained its “Buy” investment rating and target price of 89,000 won.

On the 9th, Ahn Jae-min, an analyst at NH INVESTMENT & SECURITIES, stated, “CEO Park Yoon-young recently declared the company’s leap toward becoming an ‘AX Platform Company,’” adding, “KTCorporation plans to build data centers and AI infrastructure based on its core wired and wireless network infrastructure.”
He continued, “While stable growth in the core telecommunications business continues, non-telecom businesses are also showing steady performance: KT Estate, where the hotel business is performing well; KT Cloud, where growth in the data center and cloud businesses is expected due to rising AI demand; and BC Card and Kbank, which are working to improve profitability.” He assessed that a proper balance between stable growth in the core telecommunications business and new business ventures is expected.
KTCorporation has decided to expand its data center capacity to 1 GW by 2028. Analyst Ahn noted, “KTCorporation is demonstrating the strongest performance among the three major telecom companies in the Internet Data Center (IDC) and cloud businesses, which is expected to lead to meaningful revenue growth,” and added, “If KTCorporation obtains shareholder approval following the government’s announcement of guidelines on dual listings, an initial public offering (IPO) for KTCorporation Cloud is also a possibility.”
He also forecast strong second-quarter earnings. NH INVESTMENT & SECURITIES projected KTCorporation’s second-quarter revenue at 6.84 trillion won, an 8.0% decrease year-over-year but a 0.8% increase quarter-over-quarter. Operating profit is forecast at 609.4 billion won, a 40.0% decrease year-over-year but a 26.2% increase quarter-over-quarter, in line with the market consensus of 613.6 billion won.
Analyst Ahn explained, “While one-time gains related to real estate from last year have been eliminated, the wireless business—which experienced subscriber churn in the first quarter due to the waiver of early termination fees following the data breach—is recovering starting in the second quarter.” He added, “Although selling expenses have increased since last year due to intensified marketing competition during the waiver period, competition has stabilized starting in the second quarter.”
Marketing expenses are estimated at 709 billion won, an 8.1% increase year-over-year and a 3.2% increase quarter-over-quarter. Depreciation expenses are projected to be 814.6 billion won, a 1.2% decrease year-over-year, while personnel expenses are expected to rise 4.9% to 1.17 trillion won; major expenses are expected to remain stable.