[Aju News DB ]
KT&G, South Korea's main tobacco company, said Monday it would raise cigarette prices at duty-free shops by an average four US dollars this week.
The company said the hike from Tuesday had been anticipated due to rising costs and last year's increase in domestic cigarette prices.
KT&G's net profit decreased 7.0 percent year-on to 162 billion won ($134 million) in the fourth quarter of last year due to lackluster sales in the domestic market. Overseas sales jumped 23.7 percent on robust performance in Russia, Turkey and Indonesia.
The company's fourth-quarter domestic market share shed 4.2 percentage points from the third quarter to 58.8 percent due to fierce competition with foreign rivals.
For all of 2015, net profit jumped 32.2 percent to 987.9 billion won as margins improved after South Korea's tobacco price hike in January last year.
아주경제 임장원 기자 =
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
