Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) has released its third quarter results for 2021, with a year-to-date 10.9 per cent increase in revenue to JPY 1,766.1 billion (USD 15.5 billion), according to a company press release.

Compared to the same quarter last year, adjusted operating profit at constant currency increased 12.4 per cent to JPY 173 billion (USD 1.5 billion), whereas revenue for the third quarter increased by 10.6 per cent to JPY 621.5 billion (USD 5.5 billion) driven by increases in the international tobacco and Japanese-domestic tobacco businesses, partially offset by decreases in the pharmaceutical and processed food businesses.
According to JT, the total shipment volume increased 1.7 per cent, including unfavourable inventory movements. Excluding inventory adjustments, total shipment volume grew 2.1 per cent, building on quarterly market share gains in a stable industry volume, partially resulting from lower illicit trade volume. Share grew across the key markets of France, Italy, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the UK, in addition to many others, notably Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Iran, the Philippines, Poland and Romania.
Masamichi Terabatake, President and Chief Executive Officer of the JT Group, said: “The JT Group reported a robust year-to-date performance, driven by strong momentum across the tobacco businesses. Our volume performance continued to be strong, driven by market share increases and stable industry volumes from longer than expected travel restrictions.
“We revised our full year forecasts upward, reflecting the robust results delivered in the first nine months of 2021 and also favourable currency trends. Following the upward revisions of our forecast, we are pleased to inform our plan to raise our annual dividend guidance by JPY 10 (USD 0.09) to JPY 140 (USD 1.23) per share.
“In Japan, we have received very encouraging feedback from consumers on Ploom X. However, the global semi-conductor shortage is impacting production of heated tobacco devices, so for the remainder of the year, we will prioritize the device supply in the Japanese market where we have already launched Ploom X. We will continue to strive to secure share growth.”