KT (030200.KS) is building a customer-tailored artificial intelligence (AI) platform that covers the entire process from initial adoption to operational optimization. This marks the first step toward the "AX Platform Company" transformation that has been emphasized since the launch of the CEO Park Yoon-young system.
"Our AX platform will be provided as an industry-specialized solution that customers can quickly apply in the field," Park Sang-won, head of KT's AX business division, said at the first-quarter earnings conference call Monday. "We will unveil an end-to-end AX service that spans from customer AX adoption to operational optimization."
This is the main direction of the B2B AX business, which aims to strengthen its role in practically solving problems customers face at industrial sites. KT plans to build an AX platform that takes into account industry characteristics, government regulations and security. Through customer-tailored product packaging, the company intends to expand demand markets including finance, public, manufacturing and defense.
KT also plans to focus on its AI Contact Center (AICC) business. "We are upgrading to a next-generation AICC that enables practical task processing automation based on agentic AI," Park said. "Through this, we will grow the AICC into a customized marketing channel rather than a simple customer response channel."
KT's acceleration of the AX business is analyzed as a move to quickly restore the competitiveness of its main business, which was shaken by the hacking incident. KT's first-quarter operating profit came in at 482.7 billion won on a consolidated basis, down 29.9% from a year earlier. Revenue and net profit came in at 6.7784 trillion won and 388.3 billion won, down 1% and 31.5%, respectively. The weak earnings stemmed from the base effect of last year's one-off real estate sales profit combined with costs for penalty waivers and customer compensation programs following the hacking incident.
Regarding this year's earnings outlook, KT Chief Financial Officer Min Hye-byung said, "We will aim to achieve an adjusted operating profit of around 1.5 trillion won, excluding the impact of last year's customer breach incident." He added, "Growth is expected to continue centered on core portfolios such as real estate, data centers, cloud and content."
KT also announced a medium-term shareholder return policy for 2026-2028 on the day. The company will maintain its existing direction of using 50% of adjusted net profit on a separate basis as shareholder return resources and combining cash dividends with share buybacks and cancellations. The minimum annual dividend per share (DPS) for this year was set at 2,400 won, with the first-quarter dividend per share determined at 600 won.
