According to a report by N.News on November 7th, South Korean tobacco company KT&G released its financial report for the third quarter of 2024. The report showed that KT&G's sales in the third quarter decreased by 3.1% compared to the previous year, reaching 16.363 trillion South Korean won (12 billion US dollars); operating profit increased by 2.2% year-on-year, reaching 4.157 trillion South Korean won (3 billion US dollars); and net profit decreased by 28% year-on-year, reaching 2.399 trillion South Korean won (2 billion US dollars).
KT&G explained that in the third quarter, growth continued to be centered around its core businesses. Sales of the three main core businesses, which are overseas cigarettes, NGP (new tobacco products), and health functional foods, surpassed 1 trillion Korean won, setting a new record for quarterly sales.
In addition, the tobacco business achieved third-quarter sales of 1.0478 trillion Korean won (750 million U.S. dollars), an increase of 7.7% year-on-year, setting a new quarterly sales record. Operating profit also increased by 23.6% reaching 333 billion Korean won (230 million U.S. dollars).
On the same day, KT&G also announced an upgraded version of their "Enterprise Value Enhancement Plan." The core of the plan is to achieve a 15% return on equity (ROE) by 2027, and to expand the scale of cash returns and stock buybacks. Under this new plan, shareholder rewards in 2024 will be further expanded. On that day, the KT&G board of directors decided to use approximately 150 billion Korean won (1 million USD) obtained through the monetization of non-core and low-yield assets to repurchase and cancel 1.35 million shares of its own stock within the year.
A spokesperson for KT&G stated that:
"In the future, we will continue to focus our resources and capabilities on three core businesses, striving to enhance the company's competitive foundation. At the same time, by returning the fruits of these efforts to shareholders, we will achieve mutual growth in corporate value and shareholder value, achieving true value enhancement."
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