(LEAD) KT Q3 operating profit down amid data breach fallout, AI expenditures

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SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Yonhap) -- KT Corp., South Korea's major mobile carrier, said Tuesday its operating profit fell 6.1 percent from a year earlier amid continued expenditures for data breach compensation and investments in its artificial intelligence (AI) businesses.

The company reported an operating profit of 505.3 billion won (US$375.9 million) for the July-September period, according to its regulatory filing.

Sales fell 1.8 percent on-year to 6.99 trillion won. Net income was down 17.5 percent on-year to 367.3 billion won.

KT said its third-quarter earnings were affected by customer compensation programs following the data breach incident reported in September last year that led to a series of unauthorized micropayments.

But its core mobile business has been showing signs of recovery since July, thanks to its premium mobile plans, the company added.

In contrast, cumulative orders received from its business-to-business (B2B) and AI transformation division, which services various AI-related infrastructure, rose 20 percent from the same period last year, the company said.

KT expects its AI infrastructure business to generate revenue starting in the fourth quarter and plans to initiate operations of its six newly constructed data centers in phases next year. The company is seeking to expand its AI data center capacity to over 1 gigawatts by 2031.

As part of its shareholder return program, KT carried out a 250 billion-won stock buyback in September. It plans to pay a cash dividend of 600 won per share Thursday.

fairydust@yna.co.kr
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