SEOUL– KT&G Corp., South Korea’s dominant tobacco firm, said Thursday its earnings sank more than 15 percent in 2021 on weaker exports and other negatives.
Consolidated net income came to 990 billion won (US$827.9 million) last year, down 15.5 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Sales expanded 3.4 percent on-year to an all-time high of some 5.2 trillion won, with operating income dropping 10.4 percent on-year to 1.3 trillion won.
In the fourth quarter of last year, KT&G’s bottom line plunged 63.7 percent on-year to 111.5 billion won. Sales declined 2.3 percent to 1.2 trillion won, with operating income tumbling 24.5 percent to 264.9 billion won.
The operating profit for the October-December period was 7.7 percent lower than the average estimate surveyed by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency. The estimate for net profit was not available.
KT&G said its 2021 sales increased from a year earlier, but earnings were hit by lower exports and reduced profits from non-core business sectors.
The company said it sold 38.8 billion cigarettes in overseas markets last year, down 7.4 percent from the prior year, with domestic sales edging down 1.3 percent to 41.1 billion cigarettes.
Despite the spread of COVID-19 across the globe, KT&G said it made forays into 20 new countries last year, with its overseas markets totaling 120 nations.
The company, which has Korea Ginseng Corp. (KGC) under its wing, voiced optimism that its exports will gradually rebound down the road once global supply chain bottlenecks ease.
Source: Yonhap News Agency