With steady progress towards the full year forecast, revenue and profit increased, driven by strong price/mix in the International Tobacco Business, market share growth in the Japanese Domestic Tobacco Business and the depreciation of the Japanese Yen.
Full year forecasts for revenue and profit revised upwards, due to the further depreciation of the Japanese Yen. Adjusted EBITDA forecast at constant FX remains unchanged, to grow 6.1% from the previous year.
Results for the 9 months
Revenue and adjusted EBITDA increased 10.7% and 16.1% respectively driven by strong price/mix in the International Tobacco Business and the depreciation of the Japanese Yen against the US dollar. Adjusted EBITDA at constant FX increased 2.2%. Profit attributable to owners of the parent increased 36.3% due to gains from non-current asset disposals in addition to higher adjusted EBITDA.
International Tobacco Business: At constant FX, adjusted EBITDA in US dollars recorded growth of 11.1% driven by robust price/mix, more than compensating for the volume decline.Due to the depreciation of the Japanese currency against the US dollar, core revenue and adjusted EBITDA in Japanese Yen increased 25.0% and 31.9% respectively. Market share continued to increase in most key markets.
Japanese Domestic Tobacco Business: Strong performance of Mevius continued to drive overall market share growth to 60.8% for April – December 2013 (FY2012: 59.6%). As a result,total sales volume and core revenue remained flat despite lower industry volume. Adjusted EBITDA declined slightly, by 1.1%.