LG Uplus disclosed that it recorded total revenue (sales) of 2.9799 trillion won and an operating profit of 187.7 billion won in the first quarter of 2018 under K-IFRS 1115, the new revenue accounting standard.

Operating revenue recorded 2.2701 trillion won, and terminal revenue reached 709.9 billion won. Additionally, within operating revenue, wireless revenue was 1.3346 trillion won and wired revenue was 919.7 billion won.

Under K-IFRS 1115, handset subsidies and rate discounts, which were previously deducted separately from handset revenue and service revenue, will now be treated as a single transaction and allocated in proportion to the ratio of handset revenue and rate revenue. Customer acquisition commissions have also been changed from being treated as current expenses to being capitalized and amortized over the customer's subscription period.

Under existing accounting standards, total revenue (sales) reached 3.0651 trillion won, up 6.4% from the same period last year, and operating revenue reached 2.3092 trillion won, up 0.8% from the same period last year. Operating profit was recorded at 245.1 billion won.

Wireless revenue among operating revenue recorded 1.3452 trillion won, down 1.5% from the same period last year due to factors such as the increase in selective contract discount rates.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) in the first quarter was 33,355 won, down 3.7% from the previous quarter. However, the total net increase in subscribers reached 228,000, a 52.5% increase from the previous quarter, and LTE subscribers also recorded 12,439,000, accounting for 92.8% of total wireless subscribers, continuing the trend of increasing quality subscribers.

This growth in wireless subscribers is attributed to factors such as the launch of the nation's first preemptive pricing plan with no restrictions on data allowance or speed, and the introduction of differentiated mobile content services like the U+ Pro Baseball application.

Wired revenue reached 949.1 billion won, up 3.7% from the same period last year due to factors such as increased home media revenue.

Among wired revenues, home media revenue recorded 470.1 billion won, an 11.6% increase compared to the same period last year, driven by the growth of 3.672 million IPTV subscribers, a 14.9% increase compared to the same period last year.

The growth in IPTV subscribers is attributed to the acquisition of new subscribers and the expansion of UHD customers driven by strengthened content competitiveness, such as the children's service platform 'U+tv Kids' World'. LG Uplus plans to continue the growth trend in IPTV revenue by providing differentiated content.

Corporate revenue recorded 479 billion won. Of the corporate revenue, e-Biz business revenue reached 189 billion won, a 5.9% increase compared to the same period last year, driven by the growth of the online and mobile payment markets.

Marketing expenses in the first quarter of 2018 amounted to 504.3 billion won, a 4.3% decrease compared to the same period last year due to factors such as market stabilization. Under the new accounting standards, it recorded 513.4 billion won, a slight increase compared to the previous accounting standards.

CAPEX in the first quarter amounted to 205.4 billion won, down 0.5% from the same period last year due to seasonality and investment stabilization.

In the second quarter, LG Uplus plans to expand differentiated 5G-oriented customer experiences in the sports media sector, while solidifying its market leadership by differentiating home media convergence services such as IoT and IPTV based on Our Home AI.

The strategy is to expand mobile IoT businesses in earnest, such as commercializing remote monitoring of small LPG tanks and participating in pilot projects for remote water meter reading, and to secure the NB-IoT market by expanding industrial IoT corporate customers.

LG Uplus CFO and Executive Vice President Lee Hyuk-joo stated, “We have sustained performance by strengthening on-site management to address customer inconveniences and providing innovative lifestyle value services in core businesses such as media, AI, and IoT,” adding, “Even in an environment where growth is challenging, we will do our utmost to enhance shareholder value by improving business performance through customer value innovation.”