South Korea’s top fixed-line operator KT Corp. said Wednesday it suffered another net loss in the first quarter from a heightened battle among mobile carriers and stronger monitoring by telecom authorities.

Net loss came to 40.9 billion won ($39.2 million) in the January-March period, improving from a net loss of 542.5 billion won in the previous quarter, the country’s No. 2 mobile carrier said in a regulatory filing. It posted a net profit of 212.6 billion won in the first quarter of 2013.

Revenue edged down 4.2 percent on-year to 5.8 trillion won, while the company’s operating profit plunged 58.6 percent to 152 billion won over the cited period.

In 2013, the company posted a net profit of 181 billion won, down 83.6 percent from the previous year. Revenue fell 0.2 percent to 23.8 trillion won over the cited period, while operating profit shed 27.7 percent to 873.9 billion won.

By sector, the mobile division posted revenue of 1.7 trillion won, up 1.5 percent from a year earlier, helped by a gradual increase in its number of Long Term Evolution network subscribers, which came to 8.63 million at end-March, a 0.2 percent rise from a year before.

The company’s fixed-line business, however, continued to remain sluggish, with its sales decreasing 6.7 percent on-year to 1.4 trillion won in the January-March period. KT said it will make efforts to bolster the division’s earnings by focusing on high-speed Internet services.

Revenue of KT’s media and contents division rose 17.7 percent to 369.6 billion won over the cited period on the back of an increasing number of subscribers to its Internet protocol TV services, which came to 5.16 million at end-March.

The combined operating profits of its affiliates ― BC Card, KT Skylife and KT Rental ― fell to 106.6 billion won in the first quarter, compared to the 111.7 billion won posted in the previous year, it added.

Analysts said KT’s overall weaker earnings were the result of the business suspension orders from telecom authorities, which limited its operations in the first quarter.

Local mobile carriers were banned from signing on new subscribers for 45 days starting in March due to business suspensions as punishment for providing illegal incentives to users to change their service providers. (Yonhap)