[Edaily Reporter Shin Su-jeong] With foreign ownership of KT&G surpassing 51%, the U.S.-based investment fund First Eagle Global Fund has joined the ranks of major shareholders holding more than a 5% stake. Interest from global institutional investors appears to be growing as the company continues to improve its performance, driven primarily by its overseas cigarette business, and expands shareholder return policies such as share buybacks and cancellations.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system on the 4th, First Eagle Global Fund disclosed that it held a 5.02% stake in KT&G as of the 15th of last month. Consequently, First Eagle has become a major shareholder holding more than 5% of KT&G’s shares.

First Eagle has joined the list of KT&G’s major foreign shareholders, alongside Capital Research and Management Company—which disclosed a 5.61% stake in KT&G last May—as well as BlackRock and the Singapore Investment Corporation.

However, the increase in First Eagle’s stake reflects the impact of a decrease in the total number of issued shares resulting from KT&G’s treasury stock buyback and cancellation. According to the disclosure, KT&G’s total number of issued voting shares decreased from 114,676,645 shares as of April 23 to 103,814,506 shares. Although First Eagle reduced its shareholding slightly, its ownership stake exceeded 5% due to the overall decrease in the total number of issued shares.

KT&G maintains a dispersed ownership structure with no single controlling shareholder. As a result, changes in the shareholdings of institutional investors—such as the National Pension Service, global asset managers, and pension funds—draw market attention. With foreign ownership recently surpassing 51%, the confirmation that a U.S.-based global fund has become a shareholder holding more than 5% of the shares suggests that interest from overseas institutional investors is continuing.

This interest is linked to improvements in KT&G’s core business performance and its shareholder return policies. KT&G continues to show improved performance, driven primarily by its overseas cigarette business.

KT&G held an investor briefing on the 7th of last month and announced its preliminary first-quarter results. On a consolidated basis, first-quarter revenue totaled 1.7036 trillion won, and operating profit reached 364.5 billion won. Compared to the same period last year, revenue increased by 14.3% and operating profit by 27.6%.

In particular, the overseas cigarette business drove these results. KT&G’s first-quarter overseas cigarette revenue reached 559.6 billion won, a 24.6% increase year-over-year. Operating profit rose by 56.1% due to strategic price hikes and cost-saving measures.

The company is also continuing its shareholder return policy. KT&G plans to enhance shareholder value through measures such as the cancellation of treasury shares and increased dividends. As the cancellation of treasury shares raises the ownership stake of existing shareholders, interest from global institutional investors continues to grow.

A KT&G spokesperson stated, “We will pursue a balanced approach to strengthening our core business competitiveness, growing our global operations, and implementing shareholder return policies to simultaneously enhance corporate value and shareholder value.”