KT andG Corp., South Korea’s dominant tobacco company, said Thursday its first-quarter net profit rose 4.2 percent from a year earlier on a weak won and strong shipments.
Net profit for the three months ended in March climbed to 285.61 billion won (US$208 million) from 274.23 billion won in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement.
“The won’s weakness (against the U.S. dollar), and increased exports of traditional cigarette products and next-generation heat-not-burn product lil helped the quarterly bottom line,” a company spokesperson said.
A weak won against the greenback drives up the value of an exporter’s dollar-denominated gains when converted into the local currency.
Operating profit fell 25 percent to 236.57 billion won in the first quarter from 316.55 billion won a year ago due to higher manufacturing costs, the statement said.
Sales were down 7.4 percent to 1.29 trillion won from 1.39 trillion won during the same period.
In 2024, KT andG aims to achieve a growth of over 10 percent i
n sales and 6 percent in operating profit.
For the whole of 2023, its operating income fell 7.9 percent on-year to 1.17 trillion won on sales of 5.87 trillion won.
Source: Yonhap News Agency