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SK Telecom profit disappoints
staff and wire reports
SEOUL, South Korea -- Cell-phone company SK Telecom on Friday reported a 52 percent rise in third-quarter profit, over a year ago. The company earned net profit of 441 billion won ($355 million). But that was less than expected, with analysts expecting a gain of some 480 billion won. The results were down 4.34 percent compared with the prior quarter, which the company blamed on the sale of some assets. "Net profit decreased because ewe incurred losses after selling wireless equipment assets," spokesman Kwon Chul-keun said, according to Reuters news agency. The third-quarter results were boosted compared with a year ago thanks to a deal to buy smaller competitor Shinsegi Telecom Inc. in January. Half a million new subscribersSK Telecom's sales were up 5.2 percent quarter on quarter, to 2.22 trillion won ($1.79 billion), which matched estimates. They were up 38.8 percent compared with a year ago. The company said that it added 520,000 new subscribers in the quarter and that customers are increasingly using cell phones for checking e-mail and playing games. Around 3.4 million of its cell-phone customers, or 20 percent of the total, use color screen phones. The company said it expects greater sales as that number rises since those users are more profitable. SK Telecom stocks is up 1.75 percent at 232,000 won in early afternoon, underperforming a 3.36 percent rise in the benchmark Kospi index. Reuters contributed to this report.
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