KT&G announcement: "American investor Capital Research and Management acquires additional 1.04 million shares, increasing stake again to 8.2%"

- Steady increase from 5.61% in May, to 7.21% in June, and to 8.22% in July
- KT&G, Q1 performance grows based on upward global cigarette trend, plans to announce new shareholder return plans in H2

SEOUL, South Korea, July 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- KT&G(KRX: 033780) announced on the 3rd that the U.S.-based global investment management company, Capital Research and Management Company, acquired 8.22% of its shares for investment purposes only.

Capital Research and Management Company's disclosure on Korea's electronic Disclosure system DART indicates that it is holding 8.528 million shares of KT&G. Accordingly, Capital Research and Management Company's held shares relative to total shares issued has reached 8.22%.

Previously on the 8th of May, Capital Research and Management Company disclosed that it is holding 5.61% of KT&G shares. In a disclosure that followed on the 9th of June, Capital Research and Management Company stated that it had increased the holding to 7.21%. In today's disclosure, Capital Research and Management Company revealed that it had secured an additional 1.04 million shares, once again expanding the holding to 8.22%.

Capital Research and Management Company is one of the largest active fund management companies that manages assets amounting to 3.3 trillion USD and is also known for its long-term investment tendencies. The recent string of acquisitions is understood to be reflected the investment tendencies.

Meanwhile, KT&G achieved a Q1 revenue of 1.7036 trillion KRW and operating profit of 364.5 billion KRW on a consolidated basis, observing respective growth of 14.3% and 27.6% on a year-over-year basis.

In particular, the global cigarette business broke the quarterly historic revenue record—made possible due to measures including strategic price hikes based on brand competitiveness, cost and SGA cost savings, and even volume growth throughout all global regions. Furthermore, in the latter half of the year, KT&G plans to announce new shareholder return policies with stronger dividends based on the qualitative growth towed by its global business.

A KT&G spokesperson stated that "the company's growth potential and fundamental competitiveness is being recognized through share expansions by global investment companies like Capital Research and Management Company. Going forward, KT&G will continue to focus on enhancing shareholder value by creating a virtuous cycle of profit growth centered around global business and shareholder return."

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