SK Telecom Co., South Korea's top wireless carrier, said Wednesday its second-quarter net income rose 84 percent on-year thanks to gains in its equity ties with its chip-making affiliate SK hynix Inc. and growth in 5G users.

Net income stood at 795.7 billion won ($689.2 million) in the April-June period on a consolidated basis, compared with 432.3 billion won a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing.

Operating income rose 10.8 percent to 396.6 billion won over the same period, while sales increased 4.7 percent to 4.81 trillion won.

SK Telecom said equity gains totaled 657.6 billion won in the April-June period on the back of SK hynix's strong performance.

The country's No. 2 chipmaker last month reported that its net income for the second quarter reached 1.98 trillion won, up 56.5 percent from a year earlier. SK Telecom holds a 20 percent stake in the company.

The wireless carrier also cited growth in its mobile service for the upbeat second-quarter earnings.

Mobile service revenue stood at 2.56 trillion won in the April-June period, up 3 percent on-year.

As of end-June, SK Telecom had 7.7 million 5G subscribers, compared with 6.74 million at the end of March.

SK Telecom's new tech businesses, ranging from media to online commerce, also logged robust growth, with its sales reaching 1.58 trillion won, up 10.1 percent from the previous year as the mobile carrier prepares to split into two in November by creating a new investment-focused company.

The new company, tentatively named SKT Investment Co., will serve as the holding company of 16 units, including SK hynix, e-commerce subsidiary 11Street and app market operator ONE Store, and has plans to invest in semiconductor and other promising tech industries.

The surviving SK Telecom will focus on its traditional mobile network business. (Yonhap)