KT&G posted a fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit operating profit growth, with second-quarter operating income of ₩414.5bn on revenue of ₩1,701.6bn.
Korea's amended Commercial Act, passed 25 February 2026 and effective 6 March, makes cancellation of repurchased treasury shares mandatory rather than optional.
KT&G's retained earnings went from ₩1,723.4bn at the end of December 2025 to ₩8,276.4bn at the end of March 2026, a rise of ₩6,553.0bn.
KT&G (KRX:033780) raised its profit-linked bonus outlook for the year after strong first-half performance in domestic tobacco sales and heated tobacco products, the company said Wednesday.
KT&G Corporation, Korea's state tobacco company, is raising its full-year earnings forecast because tobacco sales are stronger than expected and profit margins are improving, reported KED.
| Period | 033780 | KOSPI | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 week | -2.2% | -1.5% | -0.7% |
| 1 month | -1.8% | +5.2% | -6.9% |
| 3 months | -1.9% | -22.6% | +20.7% |
| 6 months | +13.8% | +31.3% | -17.5% |
| Year to date | +21.4% | +58.7% | -37.3% |
| 1 year | +26.7% | +108.9% | -82.3% |
Closed at 71% of the way from its 52-week low (₩131,400) to its 52-week high (₩189,000).
KT&G's board approved a cash dividend of ₩2,000 per share on August 6, totalling ₩207.6bn, with an August 21 record date and payment due September 7. Against 2025 net income of about ₩1.10tn that is roughly 19% of a year's profit, and against the ₩18.1tn market capitalization about 1.1% — which is exactly the yield the filing prints. For the tobacco and ginseng group, whose 2025 revenue of ₩6.58tn produced ₩1.34tn of operating profit, a payment of this size twice a year is a routine call on cash rather than a stretch. Six outside directors attended, none absent, and no shareholder meeting was required.
The date-fixing filing paired with KT&G's ₩2,000 per share declaration on August 6. It names August 21, 2026 as the record date, states that its purpose is to identify entitled shareholders, and confirms that holders are determined by record date alone with no closing of the share register. Six outside directors attended and none were absent. The document deliberately carries no amount; the payment itself is described in the companion declaration filed the same day.
KT&G is South Korea's tobacco company, privatized from the state monopoly Korea Tobacco & Ginseng in the early 2000s and still holding the large majority of the domestic cigarette market. Two things make it unusual for a tobacco stock. First, it makes the heated-tobacco sticks that Philip Morris International sells outside Korea under the IQOS system, through a long-running supply agreement, so part of its growth rides on a competitor's global rollout. Second, it owns Korea Ginseng Corporation, the dominant seller of red ginseng health products, a business with nothing to do with smoking. There is also a property arm left over from decades of land holdings. For a US reader, think of a cash-generative domestic tobacco business with a licensing-style export line attached and two non-tobacco arms bolted on, trading with the low multiple the sector always attracts.
| Sector | Consumer | Employees | |
| Market | KOSPI | Founded | |
| Korean name | KT&G | Head office |
| Symbol | Last Price |
|---|---|
| 278470APR Co., Ltd. | ₩394,000 -3.0% |
| 003230Samyang Foods Inc. | ₩1,417,000 -0.5% |
| 090430AMOREPACIFIC Corporation | ₩143,300 +0.6% |
| 021240Coway Co., Ltd. | ₩99,400 +1.2% |
| 271560Orion Corporation | ₩126,300 -2.3% |
| 051900LG H&H | ₩294,000 +0.9% |
| 161890Kolmar Korea | ₩145,800 -3.2% |
| 257720Silicon2 Co., Ltd. | ₩48,000 -1.0% |
| 192820Cosmax, Inc. | ₩275,500 -2.3% |
| 097950CJ Cheil Jedang Corp. | ₩183,400 -1.3% |