Japan Tobacco (JT) has announced its 2020 fourth quarter and full year business results with decreased revenues due to the continued impact of COVID-19, according to a company press release.
In the financial report, JT said that revenue decreased by 3.8 per cent to JPY 2,092.6 billion (USD 19.85 billion ) for the full year and decreased 7.6 per cent to JPY 500.5 billion (USD 4.47 billion) for the fourth quarter.
For the full year, adjusted operating profit increased by 5.5 per cent to JPY 544.5 billion (USD 5.16 billion) driven by an increase in the pharmaceutical business. For the fourth quarter, adjusted operating profit increased by 0.5 per cent to JPY 64.7 billion (USD 618 million), due to an increase in the international tobacco business.
Total shipment volume declined by 2.3 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively, mainly due to ongoing travel restrictions negatively impacting Duty-Free, as well as industry volume decline in several markets, notably Russia.
Masamichi Terabatake, President and Chief Executive Officer of the JT Group, said: “Despite the challenges impacting our operations, including COVID-19, the JT Group delivered a solid business performance in 2020, driven by the relentless efforts and passion of our employees worldwide. During this period, we grew share in most of our key markets and captured pricing opportunities. I am also pleased to report that the JT Group continued its investments to strengthen our RRP business with the introduction of Ploom S internationally and Ploom S 2.0 in Japan. […] We will further build on our solid momentum, by adopting a more focused prioritization of our investments towards heated tobacco sticks and combustibles. While we expect the operating environment in 2021 to remain highly uncertain, we expect to continue gaining market share globally both in combustibles and in RRP. Notably, our next generation device for heated tobacco sticks will be launched in Japan early in the second half of this year, followed by launches in Russia and other international markets.”