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By Kim Yoo-chul
Shares of SK Telecom, the country's top mobile telecom carrier, rose more than 8 percent, Monday, on growing hopes for higher dividends, stock market analysts said.
Despite the carrier's announcement that it will invest 90 billion won (some $75 million) for a 35 percent stake in the local cryptocurrency exchange operator Korbit, its newly spun-off entity, SK Square, saw its share price fall more than 7 percent as investors were unimpressed by the company's decision, they added.
The relisting of SK Telecom and SK Square came a few months after shareholders of SK Telecom approved the spinoff to help the carrier focus more on developing its telecom-derived businesses.
Hyundai Motor Securities told clients SK Telecom shares were looking attractive from a dividend standpoint. "Investors in SK Telecom are expected to receive a 5.3 percent annual dividend, which we think is quite attractive. Given moves for an expanded investment in the 5G telecom network, SK Telecom's profit structure will remain strong until the end of next year," Kim Hyun-yong, an analyst at the local brokerage, said.
Regarding a forecast for SK Square, the analyst remained positive as the new entity is ideally-positioned to expect synergy between SK hynix and other group affiliates. SK Square has stakes in SK hynix, ADT Caps, 11Street, T Map Mobility, One Store, Contents Wave, Dreamus Company and SK Planet.
On a related note, SK Square's investment in Korbit helped it become the second-largest shareholder in the operator after NXC. Details of SK Square's business plans have yet to be released. However, it aims to reach out for crypto-oriented businesses as SK Square said its investment in Korbit is aimed at providing accurate and reliable conditions for retail investors to buy and trade virtual assets.
