Operating Profit Reaches 1.1848 Trillion KRW
First Simultaneous Growth in Sales and Operating Profit in Four Years
KT&G achieved its highest-ever sales last year, driven by strong performance in its core tobacco business, successfully increasing both sales and operating profit for the first time in four years.
On the 6th, KT&G announced that its consolidated sales for the fourth quarter of last year reached 1.5571 trillion KRW, with an operating profit of 208.5 billion KRW. These figures represent increases of 8.0% and 5.3%, respectively, compared to the same period the previous year.
As a result, KT&G's annual sales rose 0.8% year-on-year to a record high of 5.9095 trillion KRW. Operating profit increased by 1.5% to 1.1848 trillion KRW, marking the first time in four years that both sales and operating profit grew simultaneously.
A KT&G representative evaluated, “The year 2024 was a meaningful year in which both sales and operating profit achieved significant growth, supported by the expansion of our core tobacco business division.”
Since the appointment of President Bang Kyung-man in March last year, KT&G has focused on strengthening fundamental business competitiveness and enhancing its financial structure, achieving balanced growth.
The tobacco business division recorded sales of 3.9063 trillion KRW, up 8.1% year-on-year, and operating profit of 1.0815 trillion KRW, growing 10.7%, thanks to continuous global sales volume increases and effective pricing strategies.
In particular, the overseas cigarette business achieved a record-high annual sales volume with a 10.3% increase compared to the previous year. Sales revenue also grew by 28% to 1.4501 trillion KRW, setting a new performance record. Operating profit surged 84.2% during the same period, realizing qualitative growth focused on profitability.
The NGP (Next Generation Product) electronic cigarette business maintained its sales growth as domestic and international stick sales increased. Last year, domestic stick sales volume grew 7.7% year-on-year to 6.15 billion sticks, while overseas stick sales volume rose 1.5% to 8.34 billion sticks.
KT&G plans to continue improving performance this year by strengthening competitiveness in its core tobacco business, enhancing efficiency through an economic production system, and actively pursuing profitability-centered financial advancement. Accordingly, the company has set its management goals for this year at over 5% growth in consolidated sales and over 6% growth in operating profit.
Regarding shareholder returns, KT&G decided to immediately implement the cancellation of 36 billion KRW worth of treasury shares (2.5% of total issued shares) already held. Additionally, the company plans to purchase and cancel more than 30 billion KRW worth of new treasury shares within the year and use funds secured through the liquidation of non-core assets to cancel a total of over 4.5% of treasury shares. Along with dividends amounting to 60 billion KRW, KT&G aims to return more than 110 billion KRW in cash to shareholders.
On the same day, the board of directors resolved a year-end dividend of 4,200 KRW per share and set the dividend record date as February 28. This brings the total annual dividend to 5,400 KRW, including the interim dividend of 1,200 KRW already paid, representing a 200 KRW increase compared to the previous year.
As part of dividend procedure modernization last year, KT&G amended its articles of incorporation to change the dividend record date from year-end to the board resolution date, allowing investors to confirm dividends before making investment decisions. The company plans to maintain an upward dividend trend in 2025 as well.
A KT&G representative stated, “Despite increasing domestic and international uncertainties in 2025, we will continue to grow performance by strengthening core business competitiveness based on our global operations, faithfully implement the highest-level upgrade value-up programs domestically and internationally, and do our utmost to enhance shareholder value.”
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