Seoul: KT Corp., South Korea's leading mobile carrier, reported a significant increase in its fourth-quarter net loss, attributed primarily to a one-time labor cost incurred during the period. The company's net loss for the quarter amounted to 736.6 billion won (US$508.4 million), a sharp contrast to the 41.7 billion won loss recorded a year earlier.

According to Yonhap News Agency, KT's financial results also showed an operating loss of 655.1 billion won for the October-December timeframe, a turnaround from the 265.6 billion won operating profit posted in the same period the previous year. Additionally, the company's revenue saw a decline of 1.7 percent, totaling 6.57 trillion won. The reported loss exceeded average market expectations by 22.6 percent, based on a survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data arm of Yonhap News Agency.

KT attributed the substantial net loss to a workforce restructuring initiative that took place in the fourth quarter. However, excluding the one-off labor cost, the company highlighted that its operating profit would have been 1.81 trillion won for the quarter. Despite the setback, KT reported on-year growth in sales across most of its business segments during the three-month period ending in December.

The flagship mobile division saw a 1.3 percent increase in sales, fueled by an array of fifth-generation network service plans. Cable sales rose by 1.1 percent due to an uptick in internet users, and media service revenue grew by 1.2 percent. Moreover, KT's cloud and real estate subsidiaries demonstrated strong performance, with kt cloud and kt estate reporting a 15.5 percent and 1.7 percent increase in sales, respectively.

For the entire year of 2024, KT's net income fell to 450.1 billion won, marking a 54.5 percent decrease from the previous year's 988.7 billion won. The operating profit also declined by 50.4 percent year-on-year to 809.5 billion won, down from 1.64 trillion. Nonetheless, annual sales reached a record 26.43 trillion won, representing a slight increase of 0.2 percent.

Looking forward, KT announced its intention to expedite its transformation into an artificial intelligence (AI) company as part of its growth strategy. The company recently revealed a strategic collaboration with Microsoft Corp. to develop new AI models tailored to the Korean language and culture.