KT Corp shares rose the most in seven weeks in Seoul trading yesterday after brokerages, including Woori Investment & Securities Co, said the company may take over its mobile-phone unit earlier than expected.
The stocks gained 5.5 percent, the biggest advance since December 11, to close at 47,200 won (US$49.67) on the Korea Exchange, Bloomberg News reported. The benchmark Kospi index fell 3.9 percent.
KT may take control of KT Freetel Co this year, Stan Jung, an analyst at Woori Investment, wrote in a report yesterday. Jung said earlier this month that an acquisition may take as long as two years.
SK Telecom Co's plans to acquire Hanarotelecom Inc may speed up KT's takeover of its unit, Choi Young, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities Co, wrote in a note yesterday.
Analysts have predicted since November that further consolidation would take place in Korea's telecommunications industry after SK Telecom, the nation's largest mobile-phone operator, won the right to buy a controlling stake in Hanaro.
SK Telecom last month signed an agreement to buy a 39 percent stake in Hanaro, South Korea's second-largest high-speed Internet access provider, for 1.09 trillion won.
KT may consider a merger with KT Freetel, South Korea's second-largest mobile-phone operator, or set up a holding company to change its corporate governance, Maeng Soo Ho, KT's chief financial officer, said in a conference call with investors on Friday, reiterating comments by Chief Executive Officer Nam Joong Soo in December.
Maeng said on the call that it was "inappropriate'' to comment on the timing of the change as discussions were still needed with parties involved, including the government.
Alice Park, a spokeswoman at Seongnam, Korea-based KT, declined to comment on the analysts' reports.