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On June 10, KT&G (CEO Bang Kyung-man) announced that BlackRock Fund Advisors, the world’s largest asset manager, has increased its stake in the company to 6.15% for investment purposes. According to Korea’s electronic disclosure system, BlackRock acquired a 5.01% stake in KT&G at the end of January. Over the following four months, the firm purchased an additional 467,350 shares, raising its ownership stake by 1.14 percentage points to 6.15%. The increase follows a disclosure on June 9 that U.S.-based asset manager Capital Group had expanded its stake in KT&G to 7.21%. As global asset managers continue to increase their holdings, foreign ownership of KT&G reached 51.24% as of June 10. The growing interest from foreign investors is largely attributed to KT&G’s strong overseas business performance and its commitment to enhanced shareholder returns. In addition, KT&G’s senior management team, including CEO Bang Kyung-man, has maintained active communication with the global investment community through ongoing non-deal roadshows (NDRs) and investor relations activities, drawing positive responses from international investors. KT&G reported strong first-quarter results on a consolidated basis, recording revenue of KRW 1.7036 trillion and operating profit of KRW 364.5 billion, representing year-on-year increases of 14.3% and 27.6%, respectively. In particular, the overseas cigarette business maintained strong structural growth in the first quarter, with revenue and operating profit increasing by 24.6% and 56.1% year on year, respectively, driven by strategic price increases. Supported by these strong results, KT&G plans to announce a new shareholder return policy in the second half of this year, with enhanced dividend payments as a key component. The company’s robust earnings momentum, led by its overseas cigarette business, is expected to translate into industry-leading shareholder returns and has been well received by both domestic and international capital markets. A KT&G representative stated, “The increased holdings by global asset managers demonstrate the capital market’s confidence in the execution of KT&G’s long-term vision and future growth potential. We will continue to enhance corporate value through structural profit growth in our core businesses, including the overseas cigarette business, while maintaining one of the strongest shareholder return programs in Korea.”