2021 2Q Earnings Release Opening Speech 2021
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2021 2Q Earnings Release Opening Speech 2021. 8. 11. [ IRO ] Good afternoon, I am Joong-suk Oh, Head of IR Planning at SK Telecom. Today’s conference call will consist of the presentation on the earnings results for Q2 of 2021 and the future management plans and strategic direction by Poong Young Yoon, CFO and Head of Corporate Center 1, and Hyoung-il Ha, Head of Corporate Center 2, followed by a Q&A session. Today, achievements and strategic plans for MNO will be provided by Poong Young Yoon, Head of Corporate Center 1, and Hyoung-il Ha, Head of Corporate Center 2, will discuss that of the New ICT businesses. Today’s conference call will provide consecutive interpretation, and we have with us executives from relevant business divisions to help deepen your understanding. Before we begin, we want to remind you that all forward-looking statements are subject to change depending on the macro-economic and market situations. Let me present our CFO. [ CFO, Head of Corporate Center 1 ] Good afternoon. This is Poong Young Yoon, CFO of SK Telecom. First, let me update you on the spin-off process that many investors are interested in. SK Telecom made the spin-off official with the Board’s approval on June 10th. The spin-off ratio between the Surviving Company and the New Company is six to four. A five-to-one stock split was also decided to increase investment accessibility and expand the shareholder base. All the necessary steps are being taken as scheduled, including the submission of the registration statement to the Financial Services Commission on July 16th. We are also in the process of developing specific visions for the two companies. SK Telecom as the Surviving Company plans to develop new growth drivers in the areas of subscription, metaverse and enterprise based on its core business in 5G and Home Media. The New Company will be an investment company specialized in technology sectors. It aims to increase the current net asset value IR 기획담당/전략 IR 담당 1 of 26 trillion won to 75 trillion won by 2025 through investments in High Tech, Big Tech, and Deep Tech which encompass semiconductor, platform, and innovative new technology with high growth potential. The spin-off is awaiting a final approval at the General Shareholders Meeting to be held on October 12th by the shareholders as of July 16th. When it is approved by the shareholders, the spin-off will result in two separate companies as of November 1st, 2021. We are committed to completing the remaining process as scheduled and developing detailed strategic growth plans for the two companies. Now, let me discuss the consolidated earnings highlights for Q2 of 2021. Consolidated revenue for Q2 2021 recorded 4 trillion 818.3 billion won, up 4.7% YoY and 0.8% QoQ. Amid governance restructuring under way, SK Telecom continued stable business growth, and all business divisions including MNO saw their earnings grow YoY and QoQ. Consolidated operating income posted 396.6 billion won. It increased by 10.8% YoY and 2.0% QoQ mainly thanks to higher operating income of MNO business even though investments and costs related to New ICT businesses increased. Net income recorded 795.7 billion won, posting an 84.0% growth YoY and a 39.1% growth QoQ, thanks to equity method income growth on SK Hynix. Let me now discuss major achievements and strategic directions for each business. Non-consolidated MNO revenue for Q2 increased by 2.7% YoY and 1.4% QoQ to post 3 trillion 21.6 billion won. As of the end of June, the number of 5G subscribers reached 7.7 million, representing more than 30% of the handset subscribers and contributing to the sustained revenue growth. MNO operating income posted 328.4 billion won, up 21.7% YoY and 6.9% QoQ on the back of MNO revenue growth and cost stabilization. In July, SK Telecom launched ifland, a new metaverse platform that can make countless possibilities a reality. On the ifland app, you can easily create a metaverse room using avatars. In the metaverse room, you can have audio chat with up to 130 people and share files and documents with them. 2 In the era of 5G and contact-less communication, the platform is expected to be used for diverse purposes including business meetings, events with many participants, knowledge sharing, and social networking. We plan to grow this as a popular metaverse platform, and we ask for your interest and support. Along with metaverse business, subscription business is going to be another important growth pillar of MNO Division, and details for this new initiative are being finalized. We are currently designing subscription products that package various highly demanded services and couple them with Media and Commerce benefits, which will be revealed around the end of August. The membership service will be revamped based on customer input, and the new membership program will be introduced in Q4 that features a new ‘earning point’ benefits in addition to the existing ‘immediate discount’ benefits. We will do our best to prepare for the launch of the new subscription service and membership restructuring so that they can mark a meaningful new beginning for SK Telecom post spin-off. Moving onto the Media, SK Broadband’s consolidated revenue recorded 997.1 billion won. It rose by 8.7% YoY and 3.1% QoQ with continued net adds of IPTV subscribers. The operating income posted 64.2 billion won. It grew by 4.9% YoY driven by revenue growth, but it fell by 14.9% QoQ due to higher investments in fixed line infrastructure and contents. S&C revenue recorded 369.8 billion won on a consolidated basis with ADT Caps and SK Infosec combined. It rose by 14.5% YoY and 5.5% QoQ thanks to the solid growth of CMS business and accumulated results of new business such as Caps Home. The operating income posted 28.6 billion won, which marks a 3.1% QoQ drop due to increased spending on new business, but a 2.9% YoY increase thanks to revenue growth and profitability improvement of new business. Commerce revenue posted 211 billion won, up 9.6% YoY and 3.6% QoQ. The growth of the e-commerce market and differentiated delivery services led to the revenue growth trend, but operating income posted a slight loss due to intensifying market competition caused by market restructuring events. Next, Hyoung-il Ha, Head of Corporate Center 2, will discuss the achievements and strategic direction for the New ICT businesses. 3 [ Head of Corporate Center 2 ] Good afternoon, I am Hyoung-il Ha, Head of Corporate Center 2. Allow me to discuss the achievements and plans for the New ICT businesses. First is the Media business. SK Broadband achieved the largest IPTV subscriber net adds in Q2 and 1H of 2021. As a result, the number of pay-tv subscribers increased to 8.81 million as of the end of Q2. Established by SK Broadband as a multiple program provider (MPP), Media S began regular broadcasting in April. It has focused on strengthening channel competitiveness by increasing channel awareness and coverage and making content investments. As a result, in just three months, it entered the top 40s among approximately 300 channels in terms of ratings at the end of June. SK Broadband continues to strengthen media business competitiveness in terms of platform, channel, and content and all other areas. Wavve continues to achieve subscriber growth based on the popularity of original content. It established Studio Wavve in May and accelerated investments in original content including Tracer, which will be released in December. We will continue to boost content competitiveness through various approaches as seen in the example of signing an exclusive content distribution agreement with HBO. Next is S&C business. ADT Caps is leading the market with technology differentiation in new business areas such as cloud, home, unmanned solution and converged security, on top of the growth of the existing security business. With its AI-based security services, ADT Caps ranked no. 1 for managed security service for the first time in 2021 at Korea Standard Service Quality Index by the Korean Standards Association. This achievement is attributable to our efforts to apply AI in the overall security services ranging from security camera operation, access security, security for unmanned stores, and smart home security. 4 ADP Caps signed an agreement on strategic business cooperation for cloud security with AWS in Q2 and received ISV Partner of the Year. Based on the strengthened partnership with AWS, we are pursuing cloud security business opportunities in the financial and public sectors. ADT Caps selected main underwriter for IPO in Q2 and is currently preparing for IPO in full swing. Next is Commerce. Recent IPO and M&A in the market further intensified e-commerce market competition, to which 11st responded by strengthening competitiveness through external partnerships. 11st started the next-day delivery service in collaboration with Korea Post and the same-day delivery service in partnership with SLX. In addition, we are working to make sure that Amazon Global Store can open around the end of August that will offer convenient and differentiated shopping experience in connection with SKT subscription service. SK stoa increased high-margin product categories such as health supplements and beauty to respond to market signals that consumers are turning offline for shopping, and we increased the number of partner mobile channels to minimize the negative impact of reduced TV viewing. Thanks to these efforts, SK stoa maintained a high growth trend in Q2 as well.