KT Corp.

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South Korea moves up 5G mobile network launch to March Feb 26, 2019

Company Background

KT is the largest telecommunications company in South Korea. It began life as Korea Telecommunications Authority, established in 1981. Since privatization in 2002, KT has expanded by absorbing mobile service provider KT Freetel and others. The South Korean National Pension Service is the largest shareholder in KT. KT engaged in the mobile phone service at its subsidiary. But it was forced to sell the subsidiary to SK group when it was privatized. The separated company, currently SK Telecom, is the top mobile carrier in South Korea.

KT Freetel is a subsidiary KT established after selling the mobile phone service subsidiary to SK group. KT Freetel currently offers telecom services under the Olleh brand and is one of the largest player in the South Korean market.

The company received capital subscriptions from major Japanese mobile carrier NTT Docomo in 2005. The companies cooperate in providing roaming services as well as on a technical level.

Hwang Chang-gyu, who was head of Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business, became the telecommunications company's chairman and CEO in 2014.

He implemented various reforms, such as reducing the number of sections and the number of administration staff and reinforcing overseas operations.

He has also decided to participate in plans to construct communications networks in African nations and introduce smart meters in Uzbekistan.

Business Summary

KT Corp. engages in the provision of integrated telecommunication services. It operates through the Customer and Marketing businesses. Its services include wire and wireless phones, internet, and other communication. The company was founded on December 20, 1981 and is headquartered in Seongnam-si, South Korea.

Financial Highlights

Dec 2018	KRW	USD
Revenue	23,460.14B	21,317.36M
Gross Profit	6,567.94B	5,968.04M
Operating income	1,240.39B	1,127.10M
Income before tax	1,090.74B	991.11M
Net income	688,464M	625.58M
EBITDA	4,522.13B	4,109.09M
Diluted EPS	2,809.47	2.55
Dividends Per Share	1,100	0.99
Total Assets	32,188.83B	28,848.20M
Total liabilities	17,457.55B	15,645.76M
Total equity	13,203.56B	11,833.26M
Operating cash flow	4,010.46B	3,644.16M
	Currency in KRW	Currency in USD

Historical Data

KRW | USD

	Dec 2014	Dec 2015	Dec 2016	Dec 2017	Dec 2018
Revenue	22,311.66B	22,281.22B	22,743.66B	23,387.26B	23,460.14B
Gross Profit	4,778.17B	5,473.97B	5,649.56B	6,886.77B	6,567.94B
Operating income	-551,040M	1,279.47B	1,439.97B	1,371.95B	1,240.39B
Income before tax	-1,347.25B	719,452M	1,127.02B	837,030M	1,090.74B
Net income	-1,118.94B	410,648M	711,089M	476,744M	688,464M
EBITDA	2,774.65B	4,618.07B	4,785.24B	4,736.45B	4,522.13B
Diluted EPS	-4,316	1,245	2,902	1,945.12	2,809.47
Dividends Per Share	0	500	800	1,000	1,100
Total Assets	33,775.50B	29,341.18B	30,587.73B	29,730.91B	32,188.83B
Total liabilities	21,985.21B	17,175.72B	17,792.95B	16,520.31B	17,457.55B
Total equity	10,340.96B	10,845.06B	11,441.93B	11,819.57B	13,203.56B
Operating cash flow	1,916.41B	4,229.96B	4,770.75B	3,877.74B	4,010.46B

	Dec 2014	Dec 2015	Dec 2016	Dec 2017	Dec 2018
Revenue	21,195.54M	19,686.47M	19,603.40M	20,687.35M	21,317.36M
Gross Profit	4,539.15M	4,836.50M	4,869.52M	6,091.73M	5,968.04M
Operating income	-523.47M	1,130.47M	1,241.15M	1,213.56M	1,127.10M
Income before tax	-1,279.85M	635.66M	971.41M	740.40M	991.11M
Net income	-1,062.96M	362.82M	612.90M	421.70M	625.58M
EBITDA	2,635.85M	4,080.27M	4,124.53M	4,189.65M	4,109.09M
Diluted EPS	-4.10	1.10	2.50	1.72	2.55
Dividends Per Share	0	0.44	0.68	0.88	0.99
Total Assets	30,728.74M	25,023.39M	25,325.16M	27,771.62M	28,848.20M
Total liabilities	20,002.01M	14,648.17M	14,731.70M	15,431.60M	15,645.76M
Total equity	9,408.14M	9,249.13M	9,473.36M	11,040.65M	11,833.26M
Operating cash flow	1,820.54M	3,737.36M	4,112.04M	3,430.08M	3,644.16M

Valuation Measures

Dec 2018
PER	10.60
ROA	2.22%
ROE	5.50%
Operating margin	5.28%
Profit margin	2.93%

Key executives

Co-Chairman & Chief Executive Officer: Chang-Gyu Hwang
Co-President, Director & Head-Future Platform: Dong-Myun Lee
Co-President, Director & Head-Management Planning: In-Hwe Kim
Managing Director & Head-AI Tech: Jin-Han Kim
VP & Head-Information Technology Planning: Soo-Jung Shin

Shareholders

National Pension Service of Korea (12.5%)
KT Corp. (6.0%)
NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (5.4%)
Samsung Asset Management Co., Ltd. (1.0%)
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (Investment Management) (0.8%)
APG Asset Management NV (0.8%)
Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., Ltd. (0.5%)
KT Corp. Employee Stock Ownership Association (0.4%)
Wellington Management Co. LLP (0.2%)
Kopernik Global Investors LLC (0.2%)

Contact Details

Website:http://www.kt.com
Address: 90 Buljeong-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, 13606, South Korea
Phone: +82.31.727.0114

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Competitors

LG Uplus Corp
SK Telecom Co., Ltd.
Kakao Corp.
CJ Corporation
Taekwang Industrial Co., Ltd.
LG HelloVision Corp.
Hyundai HCN Co., Ltd.
DB Inc.
KINX Inc.
KT Skylife Co., Ltd
NHN KCP Corp.
Dreamus Company
Hanyang Digitech Co., Ltd
KL-Net Corp
SK Innovation Co., Ltd
SK Networks Co., Ltd.

Last Updated on 23 Jan, 2020