LG Uplus Sees Huge Q2 Profit Boost

LG Uplus posted just shy of 240 billion won in operating profit and 3.27 trillion won in sales for the second quarter, the South Korean telco said on Friday.

It is a rise of 59% and 5%, respectively, from the same period a year ago.

During the quarter, LG Uplus said it saw the subscriber bases for its mobile and IPTV services rise despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It is the carrier's third straight quarter of growth.

While LG Uplus saw the number of smartphones sold drop during the second quarter, it continued to accrue new subscribers for its 5G services. This culminated in revenue for its mobile business reaching 1.35 trillion won, a rise of almost 5% from a year prior.    

For its IPTV service, the carrier said it saw a surge in gaining new subscribers, which helped its sales. Around 130,000 new customers subscribed to the IPTV service, a rise of 42.3% compared to the second quarter of 2019, LG Uplus said.   

This resulted in the IPTV business growing 10.5% year on year to mark almost 495 billion won in sales. 

Its data centres and cloud business also saw year-on-year growth of 2.7%, gaining 345 billion won in revenue. Social distancing measures spurred demand for its data centres, which grew by 21.6% from a year prior, the telco said.

Moving forward, LG Uplus said it expects sustained growth for the remainder of the year due to upcoming flagship smartphone launches and continued demand for remote services.

Compatriot SK Telecom also reported growth in the second quarter from rising demand for remote services.

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