KT posts better than expected net profit

South Korea’s largest telecoms service provider by revenues has posted net income of KRW408 billion (USD358 million) for the first quarter of 2012, down from USD555.2 billion a year earlier but ahead of analyst expectations. Sales rose 9.1% to year-on-year to KRW5.8 trillion on the back of revenue gains from IPTV, the company’s satellite digital broadcasting service and the consolidation from the fourth quarter of 2011 onwards of BC Card. KT revealed that it spent 30.3% more than a year earlier in capital expenditure as it upgraded networks to accommodate surging data traffic. KT launched LTE services in January, several months behind rivals SK Telecom and LG Uplus.