KT, South Korea’s top fixed-line operator and No. 2 mobile carrier, said Friday that its net profit rose 14.8 percent in 2009 from a year earlier.

Net profit reached 516.5 billion won (US$448.6 million) for all of 2009, compared with 449.8 billion won a year ago, KT said in a regulatory filing.

Sales rose 35 percent on-year to 15.9 trillion won over the cited period, while operating profit came to 611.6 billion won, the company said.

Operating profit plunged 45 percent from a year ago, due to an increase in its personnel expenditure, the company said. KT went through a 16-percent job cut at the end of 2009.

KT’s original target for the operating profit was 2 trillion won. In April last year, KT CEO Lee Suk-chae said the company was aiming for a 30 percent rise in operating income for all of 2009.

At the end of December, KT cut 5,992 jobs through a voluntary retirement scheme after accepting applications from employees who have worked for more than 15 years. The decision marks the largest job cut the company has made, according to the company.

For the fourth quarter, KT swung to a net loss of 430 billion won due to increased costs, KT said.

Sales rose 65.1 percent on-year to 4.75 trillion won over the cited period, while operating loss stood at 549.5 billion won, the company said.

The company was projected to post a net loss of 258 billion won on sales of 4.71 trillion won, according to a median estimate of 23 analysts surveyed by FnGuide Inc., a South Korean financial information provider.

KT is expected to post strong sales and profits in 2010 as a rapid growth of the smartphone market is expected to lift its revenues from mobile subscribers, analysts said.

Smartphones, mobile phones offering advanced capabilities, often with personal computer-like functionality, boost wireless Internet usage.

Demand for high-speed wireless Internet is rising, as users can access the Internet from laptop computers or mobile devices when they are on the go.

The Wi-Fi network has become a mainstream standard for wireless Internet connections and enables users to access the Internet when they are near base stations, known as “hotspots.”

KT has the largest Wi-Fi network in South Korea, calling its wireless service “Nespot.”

The company, which exclusively carries Apple Inc.’s iPhone released here in December, said earlier this month it will build an additional 14,000 wireless access points to meet growing demand for wireless data on the mobile gadgets.

Analysts at South Korea’s Hanwha Securities and Shinhan Investment raised their 12-month target price for KT.

“The reduction in the labor cost and the sales growth will lead into a 13.7-percent rise in the operating profit to 2.07 trillion in 2010,” said Park Jong-soo, an analyst at Hanwha Securities.

YonhapNewsAgency

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