(LEAD) KT&G Q4 net drops 38 pct on sluggish sales

(LEAD) KT&G-Q4 earnings


(ATTN: ADDS more details in last 4 paras)
SEOUL, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- KT&G Corp., South Korea's biggest tobacco company,
said Wednesday 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 (US$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, while 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 from the year
before. Its sales increased 7.9 percent to 2.78 trillion won and operating income
grew 9.1 percent to 951 billion won.
Fourth-quarter domestic sales fell 12.6 percent from a year earlier, while
exports dropped 18.2 percent over the cited period, it said.
The company said it will pay a dividend of 2,800 won per share for the 2009
fiscal year.
KT&G said it targets sales of 2.68 trillion won for the year, down 3.5 percent
from 2009, and operating income of 883 billion won, also down 7.1 percent.
The company is targeting a net profit of 729 billion won for the year, down 2.1
percent from the year before.
sam@yna.co.kr
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