[Click eStock] "KT&G, Earnings Growth and Strengthened Shareholder Return Policy"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Kiwoom Securities evaluated that KT&G's third-quarter earnings exceeded market consensus. Additionally, on the 6th, it forecasted that the increased visibility of future dividend per share hikes would positively contribute to enhancing shareholder value.

KT&G's consolidated operating profit for the third quarter of this year was 434.6 billion KRW, a 14% increase compared to the same period last year, slightly surpassing market consensus. The analysis attributes the overall performance improvement to an increase in operating days due to the timing difference of Chuseok, recovery of cigarette exports to the Middle East, expansion of the distribution network of the U.S. subsidiary, and increased real estate sales revenue.

Researcher Park Sang-jun of Kiwoom Securities stated, "We plan to continue stable growth centered on global cigarette sales through the recovery of Middle East exports, expansion of the U.S. subsidiary's distribution network, and promotion of e-cigarette export expansion," adding, "The announcement of an additional shareholder return policy, considering increasing the dividend per share by more than 200 KRW for this fiscal year following the 210 billion KRW share repurchase in September, is also positive."

Researcher Park added, "While steady growth continues mainly in export cigarettes, with the dividend per share increase plan announced, the dividend yield has also risen to around 5.5% (assuming DPS of 4,600 KRW)," and "As the COVID-19 situation stabilizes in the future and duty-free channels normalize, the average selling price (ASP) of domestic cigarettes and the profit level of KT&G are expected to further improve."

Accordingly, the investment opinion 'Buy' and the target stock price of 110,000 KRW were maintained.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.