(LEAD) LG Uplus Q3 operating profit up over 80 pct on base effect, biz optimization - Yonhap News Agency

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- LG Uplus Corp., a major mobile carrier, said Wednesday its operating profit rose 84.1 percent from a year earlier despite a drop in sales due to a base effect and efforts to streamline business operations.

The network operator under LG Group reported an operating profit of 297.6 billion won (US$22.1 million) for the July-September period, according to its regulatory filing.

Net income was 183.1 billion won, a spike of 272.8 percent on-year. But sales decreased 0.7 percent on-year to 3.98 trillion won.

By business, sales from its mobile service unit fell 0.9 percent on-year, while its smart home division, consisting of internet and IPTV services, was up 2.9 percent from the same period a year ago.

Sales from the company's corporate infrastructure unit went up 10.4 percent on-year, led by its artificial intelligence (AI) data center business, which rose 27.7 percent on-year.

LG Uplus is building an AI data center of 200-megawatt capacity in Paju, north of Seoul, of which commercial operations will start in phases by 2028.

The company's capital expenditures, or CAPEX, for the three months ending in September rose 30.1 percent on-year to 569.8 billion won amid expanded investments in AI data centers, it added.

The logo of LG Uplus Corp. (Yonhap)