SK Telecom's Q2 net profit up 3.7%

South Korea's top mobile carrier SK Telecom said Thursday its second-quarter net profit rose 3.7 percent year-on-year thanks to growth in smartphone subscribers and rising non-telecom sales. Net profit in April-June rose to 465.4 billion won ($431.5 million) on sales of 4.041 trillion won, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier. Operating profit gained 2.0 percent from a year earlier to 659.7 billion won. Analysts said they expect earnings to weaken during the rest of the year because of increasing marketing costs for new smartphones and tablet devices. SK Telecom submitted a letter of intent last month to purchase a 15 percent stake worth $2.2 billion in memory-chip maker Hynix Semiconductor. Final bids are due at the end of August and creditors aim to select a preferred bidder and sign a contract by the end of the year.