Category: Financial

KT&G Reports Results and Presents Growth Plan

Image: KT&G
KT&G reported consolidated revenue for the third quarter of KRW1.64 trillion and operating profit KRW415.7 billion, up 2.2 percent year-on-year.
The growth trend centered on the main business continued in the third quarter. Revenue of the three companies core growth businesses—overseas cigarettes, next generation products (NGP) and health-functional foods exceeded KRW1 trillion, achieving the highest-ever quarterly revenue, while the revenue of the tobacco business also reached a record high.
Revenue in the tobacco business reached KRW1.048 trillion, up 7.7 percent from the same period last year, while operating profit grew 23.6 percent to KRW333 billion, outpacing the revenue increase.
In the tobacco business, growth was particularly strong in overseas cigarettes. In the third quarter, revenue of the overseas cigarette business reached KRW419.7 billion, up 30.5 percent year-over-year, setting a new record in revenue for two consecutive quarters, while sales volume and operating profit also increased by 10.1 percent and 167.2 percent, respectively, achieving growth trifecta in sales volume, revenue and operating profit.
While reporting its financial results, KT&G also announced a plan to achieve 15 percent return on equity (ROE) by 2027, to increase cash returns and to repurchase and cancel shares.
Since the appointment of CEO Kyung Man Bang in March, KT&G has been working to increase its competitiveness and upgrade the group’s financial structure. In particular, the company has been prioritizing the group’s ROE enhancement project, which is based on profitability improvement, asset efficiency and financial optimization.
Under the new corporate value-up plan, shareholder return will also be expanded in 2024. KT&G’s board of directors resolved to repurchase 1.35 million shares with KRW150 billion of the financial resources secured through the securitization of non-core and low-yield assets and to cancel them in full within the year.
“We are in full swing in creating results by strengthening our business structure centered on our core business and upgrading our financial structure to become a ‘global top-tier’ company,” KT&G wrote in a press note. “We will continue to focus our resources and capabilities on our three core businesses to strengthen our intrinsic competitiveness and return the fruits of our achievements to our shareholders to achieve true value-up where corporate value and shareholder value grow together.”
November 7, 2024
Japan Tobacco Reports Third-Quarter Results

Masamichi Terabatake (Photo: JT Group)
Japan Tobacco reported revenue of ¥2.21 trillion and adjusted operating profit of ¥681.7 billion at constant currency exchange rates for the third quarter of fiscal 2024, up 6.8 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively, from the comparable 2023 quarter. On a reported basis, core revenue increased 11 percent to ¥2.39 trillion and adjusted operating profit increased 1.2 percent to ¥672.5 billion. Operating profit increased 0.8 percent to ¥636.6 billion, and profit rose 0.1 percent to ¥442.4 billion.
“The JT Group posted another set of strong results for the third quarter, mainly driven by solid pricing in the tobacco business,” said JT Group President and CEO Masamichi Terabatake in a statement.
“Our solid market share momentum, combined with better-than-expected overall demand in a number of markets and the significant Ploom volume growth of 40 percent, resulted in total volume increasing by 2.2 percent year-on-year.
“The geo-expansion of Ploom, our investment priority, has now reached 23 markets, and in Japan, the largest Ploom market, we continued to gain share in the HTS segment, reaching 11.8 percent quarter-to-date. Overall, RRP-related revenue increased by approximately 22 percent year-on-year.
“Following the successful acquisition of Vector Group, I am very pleased to welcome the employees of VGR to the JT Group. I am confident that our expanded presence in the highly profitable U.S. market will improve the JT Group’s returns in combustibles and strengthen our mid[term] to long-term financial position through sustainable hard currency profit and cash flows.”
October 31, 2024
Altria Posts $6.26 Billion in Revenues

Photo: Maurice Norbert
Altria Group reported net revenues of $6.26 billion for the third quarter of 2024, down 0.4 percent from the comparable 2023 quarter. Revenue net of excise taxes increased 1.3 percent to $5.34 billion.
“Altria delivered outstanding results in the third quarter,” said Altria CEO Billy Gifford in a statement. “The smokeable products segment delivered solid operating companies income growth behind the resilience of Marlboro, and in the oral tobacco products segment, our MST brands continued to drive profitability while On! maintained momentum in the marketplace. We also continued to reward shareholders through a growing dividend and share repurchases while making investments in pursuit of our vision.”
“We also announce today a new Optimize and Accelerate initiative designed to modernize our processes, which we believe will accelerate progress toward our vision, and we reaffirm our guidance to deliver 2024 full-year adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $5.07 to $5.15. This range represents an adjusted diluted EPS growth rate of 2.5 percent to 4 percent from a base of $4.95 in 2023.”
October 31, 2024
ITC Misses Profit Estimate

ITC’s profit rose 3 percent to INR50.78 billion ($604.2 million) in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, missing estimates of INR51.14 billion, reports Reuters. The company cited subdued demand conditions, unusually heavy rains in parts of India and a sharp escalation in certain input costs, among other factors.
Higher prices of raw materials, such as tobacco leaf and crude oil, also weighed on the consumer goods sector’s earnings for the July-September period. The increase in leaf tobacco prices was partly mitigated through improved mix, calibrated pricing and strategic cost management, according to ITC.
In the cigarette business, net segment revenue was up 7.3 percent. ITC said the business continues to counter illicit trade and make strategic portfolio and market interventions “with focus on competitive belts to reinforce market standing.”
The company also noted in a statement that recent stability in cigarette taxes, backed by deterrent enforcement, enabled volume recovery for the legal cigarette industry from illicit trade, leading to higher demand for Indian tobaccos and bolstering revenue to the exchequer from the tobacco sector.
October 25, 2024
Third-Quarter Revenues up at PMI

Photo: PMI
Philip Morris International reported net revenues of $9.91 billion for the third quarter of 2024, up from $9.41 billion in the comparable 2023 quarter.
“We delivered exceptionally strong performance, with record quarterly net revenues and earnings per share,” said PMI CEO Jacek Olczak in a statement.
“This reflects excellent momentum across all regions and categories, with a reacceleration in IQOS adjusted in-market sales growth, strong Zyn volumes, and resilient combustible performance.
“As a result of our strong year-to-date delivery, we are raising our full-year growth outlook for adjusted diluted EPS to a range of 14 percent to 15 percent, excluding currency.”
Quarterly shipments of smoke-free products reached about 40 billion units. The smoke-free business accounted for 38 percent of PMI’s total net revenues and 40 percent of gross profit, up by 1.9 percentage points and 2.2 percentage points, respectively. Net revenues increased by 14.2 percent and gross profit increased by 15.9 percent.
Oral smoke-free shipment volume increased by 24.7 percent in cans (22.2 percent in pouches or pouch equivalents), fueled by Zyn growth in the U.S., where shipments reached 149.1 million cans, an increase of 41.4 percent compared to the prior year. Outside the U.S., nicotine pouch volume in cans grew by about 70 percent, with notable contributions from Pakistan and South Africa.
Combustible net revenues grew by 5.2 percent. Both PMI’s global brands portfolio and Marlboro achieved their highest quarterly market shares since the 2008 spin-off.
The regular quarterly dividend increased by 3.8 percent to $1.35 per share, or an annualized $5.40 per share.
October 22, 2024
BAT Hosts Capital Markets Day

Photo: BAT
BAT hosted a capital markets day for institutional investors and analysts at its Innovation Centre in Southampton, U.K., Oct. 16.
During the event, CEO Tadeu Marroco and Chief Financial Officer Soraya Benchikh provided further details on the company’s transformation journey. BAT aims to become a predominantly smokeless business by 2035 by providing smokers with access to a wide range of smokeless products.
According to BAT, the goal of the capital markets day was to demonstrate how the company’s science, innovation, breadth of capabilities and people can combine to achieve a smokeless world and deliver long-term sustainable value for all its stakeholders.
In an announcement, the company said it remains on track to deliver low-single-digit organic revenue and adjusted profit from operations growth in 2024. It plans to progressively improve its delivery to 3 percent to 5 percent organic revenue growth and mid-single-figure adjusted profit from operations growth on an organic, constant currency basis by 2026.
October 16, 2024
Imperial Reports Trading In Line with Expectations

Photo: Igor Golovnyev
Imperial Brands reported trading in line with expectations for fiscal 2024.
“We are pleased to report another year of operational and financial delivery against our five-year strategy to transform the business,” the company wrote on its website ahead of the Nov. 19 announcement of its annual results.
“At constant currency, we are on track to deliver in line with our full-year guidance with an acceleration in tobacco and NGP [next-generation products] net revenue growth versus last year and group adjusted operating profit growth close to the middle of our mid-single digit range.
“Constant currency tobacco and NGP net revenue growth has strengthened over the same period last year underpinned by strong combustibles pricing and further growth in our NGP business. Our investment activities in our five priority markets continue to deliver stable aggregate market share with gains in the U.S., Spain and Australia, broadly offsetting declines in Germany and the U.K.
These results are consistent with our medium-term objective to hold or grow aggregate share across these markets. At the same time, we have delivered strong pricing, while industry volume pressures have eased across the majority of our wider market footprint.”
Imperial Brands expects NGP net revenue to grow in the range of 20-30 percent at constant currency, with increases across all three regions as we build scale in our existing footprint. “Our results this year have benefited from the launch of innovative products with new formats under the Blu brand, new iSenzia non-tobacco heat sticks and new flavors in the modern oral segment,” the company wrote. “Our entry in the U.S. oral nicotine category with the launch of the Zone range of pouches has been well received and supported a stronger NGP performance in our U.S. business.”
Imperial Brands’ constant currency group adjusted operating profit growth improved in the second half of the year driven by strong results across all three regions, including the group’s Africa, Asia, Australasia and Central & Eastern Europe region where shipment timings in the Middle East affecting the first half have now been resolved.
“Our profit performance also reflects reduced NGP operating losses as we build scale while continuing to invest in line with our plans,” Imperial wrote. “Group adjusted operating profit has benefited from growth at Logista, the Spanish-based distribution business in which we have a 50.01 percent stake.”
Along with its trading update, Imperial Brands announced a further £1.25 billion ($1.64 billion) share buyback, which it expects to complete before Oct. 29, 2025. This represents approximately 7 percent of the current share capital and is a 13.6 percent increase on the 2024 share buyback of £1.1 billion. The company says it is on track to deliver total share buyback returns of £3.35 billion since we started the buyback program in 2022.
October 8, 2024
Pyxus Retires Debt

Photo: Pyxus Internationall
Pyxus International has retired the remaining $20.4 million aggregate principal amount of its 10 percent senior secured notes due 2024 at maturity. This payment, along with the company’s recently completed discounted repurchases under a privately negotiated agreement with Monarch Alternative Capital of its 8.50 percent senior secured notes and its senior secured Pyxus term loans both due in 2027, completes the planned elimination of $142.9 million of long-term debt from Pyxus’ capital structure, as announced March 25, 2024.
“We are pleased our sustained, disciplined approach to working capital management has resulted in the completion of our planned elimination of approximately a quarter of our long-term debt,” said Pyxus President and CEO Pieter Sikkel in a statement.
“These efforts have enabled us to steadily strengthen our business, improve our balance sheet and reinforce our position in the global marketplace. We remain focused on reducing our borrowing costs and believe the ongoing improvement in our credit profile positions us to decrease financing costs through our global lending partners, as well as evaluate a range of opportunities to deliver a more cost-effective capital structure.”
The retired notes are the remainder of an original $280.8 million principal amount of 10 percent Senior Secured Notes due 2024 that were issued in 2020. As part of the company’s debt exchange transactions completed in February 2023, it successfully exchanged 92.7 percent of the then-outstanding principal amount of those notes for its 8.50 percent senior secured notes due Dec. 31, 2027.
August 28, 2024
Scandinavian Tobacco Reports Higher Sales

Photo: STG
Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) reported net sales DKK2.37 billion ($352.77 million) for the second quarter of 2024, up from DKK2.23 billion for the comparable 2023 period.
Net sales increased 4.8 percent organically driven by handmade cigars and next generation products. The decline rate in machine-rolled cigars & smoking tobacco improved compared with the first quarter.
“The second quarter financial performance supports our expectation for the full year,” said STG CEO Niels Frederiksen in a statement.
“During the past months, we have taken material steps in executing our strategy and to safeguard our financial performance in challenging markets. The new commercial structure has been completed and we have taken additional steps to re-establish our market position in machine-rolled cigars and to improve our cost agility across the group. Further, the acquisition of Mac Baren strengthens our smoking tobacco business where the combination with our existing business will deliver meaningful synergies and good value for our shareholders”.
August 23, 2024
Revenues and Income Down at VPR
VPR Brands reported revenues of $1.77 million for the second quarter of 2024, down from $1.9 million in the comparable 2023 quarter. Gross profit was $451,469, compared with $1.1 million in the second quarter of 2023.
“While the second quarter presented some challenges, we are encouraged by the solid growth in our product sales and the positive trajectory of our business,” said VPR Brands CEO Kevin Frija.
“Our ability to generate consistent revenue, coupled with our strategic investments, positions us well for future success. We are committed to driving innovation and expanding our market presence, and we believe that our focus on quality and customer satisfaction will continue to deliver value to our shareholders.”
Looking ahead, VPR Brands says it remains focused on expanding its product lines and enhancing its market footprint. “With a solid balance sheet and a dedicated team, the company is well-positioned to capitalize on emerging opportunities in the electronic cigarette and vaporizer markets,” the company wrote in a press note.

Photo: crizzystudio
August 22, 2024