KT&G Profits Slide on Low Local Sales

Source from:  JoongAng daily 01/27/2010

KT&G Corp., Korea's biggest tobacco company, said yesterday that its fourth-quarter profit declined 38 percent from a year earlier mainly due to a fall in domestic sales. Net profit reached 138 billion won ($122 million) in the October-December period, compared with 223 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales grew 2.8 percent to 709 billion won over the cited period, but operating income dropped 29 percent to 196 billion won, it said. KT&G posted 745 billion won in profit last year, up 12.3 percent. Its sales increased 7.9 percent to 2.78 trillion won and operating income grew 9.1 percent to 951 billion won. Enditem