[E-Daily Reporter Hyera Lee ] On the 16th, Meritz Securities projected that while second-quarter earnings for KTCorporation(030200)would fall slightly short of market expectations due to the high base effect from last year, the company would secure mid- to long-term growth momentum based on stabilized marketing costs and the expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud businesses.

Jeong Ji-soo, an analyst at Meritz Securities, stated, “Second-quarter earnings are expected to fall slightly short of market estimates,” adding, “Although mobile network operator (MNO) subscribers shifted to net growth following the end of the penalty-free contract termination period in the first quarter, wireless service revenue is projected to decline by 1.3% year-over-year due to the temporary impact of downselling resulting from customer loyalty programs.”
Analyst Jeong noted, “Although competition in the number portability market has eased, marketing expenses are expected to rise to 701 billion won due to increased sales expenses incurred last year,” adding, “However, operating profit from consolidated subsidiaries is projected to contribute more significantly to overall earnings compared to the previous quarter, and KTCorporation Cloud is expected to grow 11.7% year-over-year due to increased DBO and colocation revenue.”
Analyst Jeong projected that KTCorporation’s consolidated revenue for this year would reach 26.9065 trillion won, with operating profit at 2.1502 trillion won. This operating profit figure is approximately 4.8% higher than the market consensus. He explained, “Stand-alone operating profit is expected to increase by 8.3% year-over-year, driven by the stabilization of operating expenses such as marketing costs,” adding, “KTCorporation plans to secure mid- to long-term growth momentum by expanding its data centers in western Gyeonggi Province and Yeouido in 2027, following the opening of the Gasan data center.”
KTCorporation also drew attention to its recent announcement of the “AX Platform Company” strategy. He noted, “We plan to invest a total of 18 trillion won over the next three years, including 12 trillion won in network and information security and 6 trillion won in AI infrastructure,” and assessed, “KTCorporation Cloud’s IT capacity will also expand from the current approximately 165 megawatts (MW) to 240 MW next year, which will increase its contribution to consolidated earnings.”