LG Uplus posts record quarterly earnings, operating profit up 13%

LG Uplus posted record quarterly earnings in the second quarter, with broad-based growth across mobile, AI data center operations and service revenue. The company plans to deepen its company-wide AI transformation, or AX, to further improve efficiency and profitability.

According to a regulatory filing Thursday, LG Uplus recorded consolidated second-quarter sales of 3.69 trillion won ($2.59 billion), operating profit of 344.5 billion won and net profit for the period of 217.7 billion won. Service revenue, which excludes device sales, came to 3.08 trillion won.

While sales fell 3.9 percent from a year earlier, operating profit climbed 13.1 percent over the same period — the highest quarterly figure in the company's history.

Mobile subscriptions grew by 536,000 in the second quarter, with total mobile revenue rising 0.9 percent year-on-year to 1.66 trillion won. Mobile service revenue reached 1.6 trillion won.

Total mobile subscriptions grew 5.2 percent from a year earlier to about 31.467 million lines. Mobile network operator subscriptions reached about 22.442 million, up 7.2 percent year-on-year, while mobile virtual network operator subscriptions totaled about 9.025 million, up 0.4 percent. The number of 5G subscribers stood at about 9.548 million, pushing the 5G penetration rate among all subscribers to 84.9 percent.

The company attributed part of the growth to its launch in May of a consolidated rate plan — the first in the Korean telecom industry — that streamlined 53 existing 5G and LTE plans into 18. It also introduced an "all-in-one" product allowing customers to sign up for both mobile and internet service in a single application while receiving bundled discounts.

In July, LG Uplus launched "ixi-O Roaming Call," a service that lets customers on its U+ roaming plan make voice calls abroad without incurring separate international call charges. Starting with Japan, the company plans to expand the service to more than 100 countries in the second half of the year.

The smart home segment grew 4.3 percent to 663.8 billion won, driven by an increase in IPTV and high-speed internet subscribers.

Internet revenue rose 7.6 percent year-on-year to 325.1 billion won, boosted by growth in gigabit internet subscriptions. Internet subscribers totaled about 5.677 million, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier. IPTV revenue also increased 2.1 percent to 337.7 billion won, with about 5.776 million subscribers.

Enterprise infrastructure revenue rose 8.6 percent year-on-year to 464.4 billion won, led by a 28.9 percent surge in AI data center sales to 124.1 billion won.

Revenue from the solutions segment — which includes AI contact center and smart mobility services — came to 134.6 billion won. Corporate line revenue edged up 0.2 percent to 205.7 billion won.

LG Uplus is currently building a 200-megawatt AI data center in Paju, which it describes as the largest in the Greater Seoul area. The company plans to open the first building of the facility in the first half of next year, moving to get ahead of rising AI infrastructure demand. It is also pursuing additional power capacity through design-build-operate projects and developing regional data center hubs to strengthen its competitiveness in the AI data center market.

In its AI contact center business, the company drew on experience accumulated from operating a 4,000-seat in-house customer center, focusing in the first half of this year on deployment projects in the financial sector. In the second half, it plans to expand its product lineup with large language model-based solutions, in addition to its existing consultation advisor and automated quality assurance offerings.

"We will capitalize on the spread of AI as a growth opportunity and strengthen our foundation for growth through company-wide AX to improve operational efficiency and profitability," said Yeo Myeong-hee, chief financial officer of LG Uplus. "We will continue to maintain a balance among investment for future growth, financial soundness and shareholder returns."