South Korea-based KT registered growth across most business units in Q4 2023, with ARPU, 5G subscribers and mobile revenue up. 

On an earnings call, CFO Min Jang forecast consolidated revenue this year would increase 2.3 per cent to KRW27 trillion ($20.3 billion), driven by rising demand for premium subscribers across its mobile, broadband and media businesses. 

He noted while there are concerns about weakening growth potential of the consumer market, the operator aims to overcome these limitations through “innovating pricing and products”, following moves by rivals SK Telecom and LG Uplus in 2023 to introduce a range of 5G data packages targeting low-usage customers.

KT booked a net loss of KRW41.7 billion in Q4 2023 due to a one-off gain from property sales in the same period of 2022.

Operating revenue increased 1.8 per cent to KRW6.7 trillion.

Wireless service revenue rose 2.4 per cent to KRW1.73 trillion and ARPU 2.3 per cent to KRW34,302.

Equipment sales grew 4.8 per cent to KRW978.1 billion.

Its 5G subscriber base increased 16.4 per cent to 9.8 million.

Total mobile subscribers declined by 229,000 to 13.5 million.

MVNO subscribers grew 8.8 per cent to 7.2 million.

Broadband revenue increased 2.5 per cent to KRW620.3 billion, with its media business flat at KRW507.8 billion.

B2B Service sales rose 2.7 per cent kRW813.1 billion. 

Capex across KT and its major subsidiaries fell 13.4 per cent to KRW2.6 trillion.