[Edaily Reporter Shin Yeong-bin ] Samsung SDS (SAMSUNG SDS CO., LTD.(018260)) posted double-digit revenue growth in the third quarter of this year, driven by the simultaneous growth of its cloud and logistics businesses. The company plans to pursue double-digit growth in IT services revenue next year as well, while continuing to invest in data centers and expand its robotics business.

Samsung SDS announced on the 29th that its consolidated operating profit for the third quarter of this year was 241 billion won, a 3.7% increase compared to the same period last year. Revenue rose 11.2% to 3.7725 trillion won. Net income fell 10.1% to 180.7 billion won, reflecting foreign exchange valuation losses due to a weakening exchange rate.

Revenue in the IT Services segment reached 1.681 trillion won, a 5.3% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit rose 2.2% to 201.4 billion won. The company explained that a portion of revenue from global AI services was deferred to the fourth quarter due to differences in contract and settlement timing, and that the revenue growth rate would be approximately 7% when this is factored in.

Cloud services drove the growth in the IT Services segment. Cloud revenue rose 18% year-over-year to 796.1 billion won, accounting for 47% of total IT Services revenue. External revenue surged 92%, supporting this growth trend.

The Cloud Service Provider (CSP) business grew 15% year-over-year, driven by demand for the Samsung Cloud Platform and the expansion of Graphics Processing Unit as a Service (GPUaaS) offerings in the public sector and software industry. The Cloud Managed Service Provider (MSP) business grew 25%, driven by the expansion of Application Transformation (AX) projects in the financial sector and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects in the shipbuilding industry.

Revenue in the logistics division rose 16% year-over-year to 2.0915 trillion won, driven by increases in air and ocean freight volumes and freight rates. Operating profit increased by 13% to 39.6 billion won. Through the acquisition of Woojung Air, a specialist in mixed air cargo, Samsung SDS plans to secure the capability to consolidate and transport cargo from multiple shippers and expand its business, focusing on cargo originating from Incheon and cargo from Asia transiting through Incheon.

During its earnings conference call held today, Samsung SDS projected that AX-related revenue this year would more than double compared to last year. The company also forecast that in the fourth quarter, cloud revenue would account for nearly 50% of IT services revenue, and that total IT services revenue would see double-digit growth year-over-year.

Kim Tae-ho, Executive Vice President of Management Support at Samsung SDS, stated, “We are targeting double-digit growth in IT services revenue next year,” adding, “Our plan is to generate over 1 trillion won in revenue next year.”

The foundation for this growth lies in expanded orders for financial and public sector AX solutions and manufacturing ERP systems, as well as investments by affiliates in semiconductor production facilities and high-performance computing. However, the logistics business is expected to remain at this year’s level or see only slight growth next year due to market and exchange rate uncertainties.

The expansion of AI infrastructure is also gaining momentum. Samsung SDS has been selected as the preferred bidder for a design, build, and operate (DBO) project for a data center with a capacity of over 200 MW in the Seoul metropolitan area, led by Pacific Asset Management. Design and construction are scheduled to begin as early as the end of this year, with operations set to commence sequentially starting in 2029.

At the Dongtan data center, the company plans to launch a service based on NVIDIA’s next-generation Vera Rubin architecture in March of next year, following the launch of B300-based GPUaaS at the end of this year.

The company is also expanding its enterprise AI services and robotics business. “Fabrics 2.0,” launching this week, is a platform that enables the centralized utilization of various AI models and agents within an enterprise and provides integrated management of usage, costs, and permissions. The company plans to increase the number of public-sector users of its AI collaboration solution, “BritWorks,” from the current 330,000 to over 500,000 by next year.

In the robotics sector, the company is collaborating with firms such as Walden Robotics and Rainbow Robotics to carry out about 10 pilot projects at Samsung affiliate sites.

Lee Jun-hee, CEO of Samsung SDS, stated, “We plan to launch a robot orchestration platform in 2027 that covers everything from robot training to operation,” adding, “Based on the results of these pilot projects, we will expand the scope of application and the number of affiliates involved, and gradually evolve these initiatives into pilot programs for deployment on actual production lines.”