JT reports results

Japan Tobacco has posted its second quarter 2019 results.

Highlights include:

• First half adjusted operating profit at constant FX increased 5.9 percent year-on-year, mainly driven by pricing gains in both the international and Japanese domestic tobacco businesses. On a reported basis, adjusted operating profit decreased 9.4 percent due to unfavorable currency movements.
• Operating profit and profit attributable to owners of the parent increased driven by a one-time compensation gain in the pharmaceutical business.
• JTI announced the interim dividend of ¥77 per share as stated in the “Business Plan 2019.”

“Our solid first half results were driven by additional market share gains and pricing benefits across many markets in conventional tobacco products,” said Masamichi Terabatake, President and CEO of JTI. “This reconfirms our conviction that these products will continue to be the platform of JT Group’s profitability and remain the major category of the industry.”