KT&G Posts Strong Results in First Quarter

KT&G’s sales and operating profit soared by 11.5 percent and 10 percent, respectively, to reach KRW844.8 billion ($665 million) and KRW272.6 billion in the first quarter of 2022, according to a company earnings release. Performance was driven by KT&G’s flourishing overseas business, with robust sales of its heat-not-burn (HNB) tobacco products.

“Our sales expansion of HNB products in both domestic and overseas markets, along with increasing export volume of our traditional tobacco products, led to the growth of the company’s total revenue,” a KT&G official was quoted as saying by The Korea Times.

KT&G sold about 9.54 billion cigarettes in Korea in the first quarter of this year, 0.9 percent less than in the same period last year. However, its market share increased by 1.2 percentage points to 65.7 percent. In the HNB sector, the company’s products accounted for 45.1 percent of the domestic market.

KT&G’s overseas volume of combustible cigarettes jumped 43.8 percent to 11.5 billion, thanks to strong sales in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions.