(LEAD) KT Q1 net down 31.5 pct amid fallout from data breach

(ATTN: RECASTS throughout; CHANGES headline; ADDS photo) SEOUL, May 12 (Yonhap) -- KT Corp., South Korea's second-largest wireless carrier, said Tuesday its net profit fell 31.5 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as its mobile business continued to deal with the fallout from a data breach last year. Net profit came to 388.3 billion won (US$261.4 million) in the January-March period, down from 566.8 billion won a year ago, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating income for the quarter also fell 29.9 percent on-year to 482.7 billion won, while sales backtracked 1 percent to 6.77 trillion won. The earnings, however, exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 349 billion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. KT Corp.'s headquarters in downtown Seoul is seen in this undated file photo. (Yonhap) KT said its first-quarter earnings were affected by customer compensation programs following the data breach incident reported in September last year that led to a series of unauthorized micropayments. This forced KT to overhaul its security systems. Its core mobile business continued to face the fallout from the data breach, as the company incurred costs from waiving penalties for subscribers in January and providing compensation programs for all affected customers. KBank, KT's internet-only banking affiliate that debuted on the main KOSPI market in March, posted 28.22 trillion won in deposits and 18.75 trillion won in loans as the end of March. Its total number of customers rose to 16.07 million. As part of its shareholder return program, KT said it will continue to use 50 percent of its standalone adjusted net profit for shareholder returns, while maintaining cash dividends alongside share buybacks and cancellations. Looking ahead, KT said it plans to accelerate its artificial intelligence (AI) transformation strategy to position itself as a leading global AI partner and improve profitability. ejkim@yna.co.kr (END)