(LEAD) KT&G Q2 net jumps 58 pct on strong exports

KT and G Corp., South Korea's dominant tobacco company, said Thursday its second-quarter net profit jumped 58 percent from a year earlier helped by strong exports and a weak won. Net profit for the three months to June rose to 318 billion won (US$231 million) from 201.93 billion won in the year-ago period, the company said in a statement. "The quarterly bottomline got a boost from increased exports of traditional cigarette products and higher demand for next-generation heat-not-burn product lil," the statement said. The won's weakness against the U.S. dollar also helped. A weak won against the greenback drives up the value of an exporter's dollar-denominated gains when converted into the local currency, it said. Operating profit climbed 31 percent to 321.48 billion won in the second quarter from 246.11 billion won a year ago. Sales were up 6.6 percent to 1.42 trillion won from 1.34 trillion won during the same period. To enhance shareholder value, the company said it will buy back 3.61 million treasury stocks worth 350 billion won from Aug. 9 to Nov. 8 for cancellation. From January to June, net income climbed 27 percent to 603.62 billion won from 476.15 billion won in the year-ago period. In 2024, KT and G aims to achieve growth of over 10 percent in 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