KT&G smokes revenue record in Q2 with 35% increase

Tobacco company KT&G posted an operating profit hike of 30.6 percent from April to June with 321.5 billion won.

KT&G's logo [KT&G]

Tobacco company KT&G’s operating profit increased by 30.6 percent on year for the April-June period to 321.5 billion won ($233 million) thanks to strong cigarette sales overseas.

KT&G’s overseas cigarette business saw record-breaking revenue of 359.1 billion won, an increase of 35.1 percent year on year, along with an increase in operating profit and sales volume.

Operating profit exceeded market expectations of 271.4 billion won compiled by market tracker FnGuide.

The tobacco company’s heated tobacco product saw a 10 percent revenue increase over last year at 197 billion won, with a 42.8 percent spike in the division's operating profit during the cited period.

Overseas revenue for KT&G’s health functional food business — namely, its ginseng products — also saw on-year growth of 38.4 percent, recording 92.6 billion in revenue in the second quarter. Such growth was driven by a 75.4 percent increase in revenue from the Chinese market.

Losses for the health functional food business also improved compared to the same period the previous year, recording a 1.5 billion won loss compared to 10.7 billion in 2023.

KT&G also announced its plans to provide 1.8 trillion won in cash dividends and 1 trillion won for a share buyback during a conference call on Thursday. The tobacco company projected its annual revenue to grow from 2.5 percent to 3 percent.

“We achieved growth in both revenue and operating profit in the second quarter by expanding our overseas business,” KT&G said, describing the second quarter numbers as the result of a “strong performance.”

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]