5th quarterly gain seen for KT&G

KT&G Corp., Korea’s biggest tobacco company, reported a fifth consecutive increase in quarterly profit on sales of higher-priced cigarettes, leading the company to buy back stock. First-quarter net income rose 35 percent to 130.2 billion won ($140 million), from 96.5 billion won a year earlier, Daejeon-based KT&G said in a regulatory filing yesterday.
Revenue climbed 17 percent to 515.5 billion won. Profit and sales beat analysts’ estimates. The shift toward more expensive cigarettes helped KT&G stick with last year’s plan to return 2.8 trillion won to shareholders over three years by way of stock buybacks and dividend payments. Operating profit rose 36 percent to 156.4 billion won after the average revenue per pack rose 5 percent to 611.7 won, KT&G said.