JT International Sees Higher Q1 Pretax Profit

Source from:  BERNAMA 05/14/2010

JT INTERNATIONAL Bhd, the second largest tobacco manufacturer in Malaysia, has chalked up a pre-tax profit RM50.7 million for the first-quarter ended March 31, 2010 from RM44.9 million registered the same period in 2009. Its revenue rose to RM313.179 million, for the quarter under review, compared with RM291.504 million recorded in the corresponding quarter. The increase in revenue and pre-tax profit was attributed to higher sales volume and cigarette prices, it said in a statement. JT International said the tobacco industry continued to record a contraction in sales with cigarette volumes falling by three per cent during the quarter. Nevertheless, the company continued to improve its performance, growing its market share to 19.6 per cent from 18.5 per cent in the corresponding quarter of last year. JT International expects the challenging operating environment to continue for the remainder of the year with the key challenge being the ban on the sale of cigarette packs containing less than 20 sticks, come June 1. Illicit cigarettes, which now account for one out of three cigarette packs sold in the market, continued to present a major challenge to the legal tobacco industry, it said. As the growth of the illicit cigarette trade was fuelled by significant excise tax increases implemented over the years, JT International was hopeful moderate tax increases would continue to be implemented to curb the growth of the trade. Against these challenges, JT International said it aimed to deliver an overall satisfactory performance for the current financial year. Enditem