[THE INVESTOR] Local mobile carriers are estimated to have performed modestly in the fourth quarter last year, financial tracker FN Guide said on Jan. 11.

The estimates from FN Guide put the total sales from the three carriers -- SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus -- at 13.48 trillion won (US$12.59 billion) for the quarter ended in December. The figure is 0.1 percent less than the same quarter of the previous year.

Operational profit was expected to jump 18.2 percent to 842.7 billion won from the increase in the average revenue per user, meaning there were more clients signing on for high subscription rates attached to newer smartphones.

Marketing costs did not shrink much in the measured quarter, the estimates said. Kim Hong-shik of Hana Financial Investment expected the marketing fees to have fallen about 7 percent.

By company, SK Telecom's sales for the fourth quarter were predicted to have been 4.45 trillion won, up 2.5 percent from a year ago, with an operational profit of 377.9 billion won, a jump of 25.2 percent.

KT’s sales were expected at 5.92 trillion won, down 1.6 percent, with its operational profit jumping 17.5 percent to 265.9 billion won.

LG Uplus is likely to have fared the best, with expected sales of 3.1 trillion won, similar to the fourth quarter of the previous year, with an operational profit of 198.9 billion won for a 7.9 percent gain.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)