KT&G tops W6tr revenue on overseas growth

South Korean tobacco maker KT&G surpassed 6 trillion won ($4.1 billion) in annual revenue for the first time as overseas sales overtook its domestic market, the company said Thursday.

According to the tobacco maker, consolidated revenue for 2025 rose 11.4 percent from a year earlier to a record 6.58 trillion won, with operating profit climbing 13.5 percent to 1.35 trillion won. Fourth-quarter revenue increased 10.1 percent to 1.71 trillion won and operating profit grew 17.1 percent to 248.8 billion won.

KT&G’s overseas cigarette business powered overall results, delivering record highs in revenue, sales volumes and operating profit. Revenue from overseas markets rose 29.4 percent to 1.88 trillion won, accounting for 54.1 percent of its total cigarette sales and overtaking domestic revenue for the first time.

The company ascribed the results to CEO Bang Kyung-man’s drive to reshape KT&G, boosting profitability while expanding overseas through structural reforms, including the creation of a global business unit centered on local production and distribution.

The company’s next-generation products segment, including heat-not-burn tobacco devices, also expanded, with revenue rising 13.5 percent to 890 billion won while tobacco sticks sales volumes edged up to nearly 14.8 billion units.

For this year, KT&G is targeting revenue growth of 3 percent to 5 percent and operating profit growth of 6 percent to 8 percent.

KT&G expects double-digit growth in its global cigarette business by expanding into contract manufacturing and licensing while broadening its nicotine portfolio to products such as nicotine pouches.

New overseas manufacturing capacity is expected to support margins through lower production costs and strategic price increases. The company’s Kazakhstan factory has begun operations, while a new facility in Indonesia is set to start production in March.

For investors, KT&G plans to keep total shareholder returns at 100 percent or higher, steadily increase its 6,000 won per share dividend and conduct flexible share buybacks should the stock be seen as undervalued.

Investor sentiment improved after BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, disclosed last week that it had acquired a 5.01 percent stake in KT&G, becoming one of the company’s largest shareholders. Shares have since rallied, hitting a 52-week high of 164,000 won on Wednesday before closing Thursday at 161,800 won.