April 27, 2024

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KT&G, South Korea’s dominant tobacco company, said on May 9 its first-quarter net profit rose 11 percent from a year earlier on increased overseas sales.

Net profit for the January-March quarter rose to 276 billion won ($235 million) from 249 billion won in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement.

“Robust sales of e-cigarettes in the domestic market and recovering demand in overseas markets gave a boost to the quarterly bottom line,” a company spokesman said.

As sales in new markets such as Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific region countries are on the increase, the company expects to report solid annual earnings results for the year.

Operating profit climbed 13 percent to 351 billion won in the first quarter from 311 billion won a year ago. Sales were up 11 percent to 1.2 trillion won from 1.1 trillion won during the cited period, it said.

In the first three months, KT&G accounted for 63 percent of the country’s tobacco market, which does not include e-cigarettes.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)