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[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Kim Jisun] President Baek Bok-in, who has been leading the KT&G for nine years this year, is uncertain about his fourth consecutive term.
Some predict that the predicted breakup between President Baek and KT&G will be inevitable.
According to financial information provider FnGuide on the 16th, KT&G's annual performance this year is expected to be 5.8481 trillion won in sales and 1.1343 trillion won in operating profit.
Sales fell 0.1% year-on-year and operating profit fell 10.5%. This year's earnings forecast is the first reverse growth in five years since 2018.
In the second quarter, KT&G recorded an earning shock of 1.336 trillion won in sales, down 5.7 percent from a year earlier, and 242.9 billion won in operating profit, down 25 percent from a year earlier.
Yoon Joo-ho, CEO of Umbrella Research, told the Alpha Economy, "The sluggish tobacco sector, which accounts for 63.9 percent of KT & G's sales, was cited as the main reason for the second-quarter earnings shock," adding, "This is due to a drop in demand for tobacco-type cigarettes and a significant rise in import prices of leaf cigarettes, which account for most of the cost of cigarettes."
According to Bloter, Baek raised KT&G sales from 4.1698 trillion won in 2015 to 5.8514 trillion won last year, but it will be difficult to expect good results in the last year of his third term.
This year's poor performance is known to be fatal to President Baek. This is because this year's performance is a major indicator of whether President Baek, whose term is set to expire in March next year, will serve four consecutive terms.
Even the tobacco-type e-cigarette sector, which has recently grown, has stopped growing. KT&G In the first half of this year, sales of cigarette-type electronic cigarettes in the first half of this year were 389.6 billion won, down 10.7% from sales in the first half of last year.
AlphaBIZ 김지선(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
