KT&G has posted its second quarter results for 2022 with both sales and operating profit up from the previous year, according to a company press release.

KT&G’s sales for Q2 were up by 10.9 per cent to KRW 1.42 trillion (USD 1.09 billion) and operating profit was up by 1 per cent to KRW 327.6 billion (USD 250.65 million) compared to the same quarter the previous year. Growth in sales was driven by a strong performance of the overall tobacco business (cigarettes and HNB) and overseas tobacco subsidiaries.
The company’s overseas cigarette volume (export and overseas subsidiaries) amounted to 12.8 billion sticks, which is up by 26.1 per cent compared to Q2 2021. Following the high growth in volume, overseas cigarette sales also increased by 47.1 per cent and recorded KRW 269 billion (USD 205.81 million). Strong progression was made in the new markets, mainly in the Americas region. With regard to the overseas subsidiaries, there was solid volume growth in Indonesia and high revenue growth, reflecting the positive impacts of growing sales volume and pricing.
Overseas HNB performance, recorded steady volume growth due to increasing user growth globally. KT&G’s HNB device lil and its dedicated heated tobacco stick Fiit and MIIX are now present in more than 20 countries, under the collaboration between KT&G and PMI.
KT&G’s domestic cigarette volume recorded 10.7 billion sticks, which is up by 1.5 per cent on a YoY basis. KT&G is maintaining a leadership position in the market, as it accounts for 65.4 per cent of the total domestic cigarette market. The growth in sales volume and market share can be explained by the pandemic recovery and KT&G’s increasing competitiveness in super-slim segment.
Since last quarter, KT&G has the biggest share in the Korean HNB market. KT&G’s domestic HNB market share is 47 per cent, which is up by 7.4 per cent compared to Q2 2021.
Despite some challenging headwinds (such as interest rate increase, materials cost increase, and global economic recession), KT&G is expected to deliver positive FY results in domestic and overseas tobacco business, both cigarettes and HNB.