Scandinavian Tobacco Group: Interim Report 1 January – 30 June 2026: Progressing with Focus2030 and Full Year 2026 Guidance maintained
Company Announcement No. 9, 26 August 2026
Interim Report 1 January – 30 June 2026: Progressing with Focus2030 and Full Year 2026 Guidance maintained
Niels Frederiksen, Chief Executive Officer: “We are making solid progress with Focus2030 although we are still in the early phase of the five-year strategy period. Our core tobacco categories are stabilising with handmade cigars delivering good growth, we are expanding our nicotine pouch business and following the recently announced agreement to divest two fine-cut tobacco brands we expect to have restored our strategic and financial flexibility by the end of the year. These are important achievements in our ambition to build a stronger Scandinavian Tobacco Group and deliver tangible value for our shareholders.”
Net sales stabilising in the first half of the year
- Reported net sales of DKK 4.2 billion with 3% negative impact from exchange rate changes
- Net sales growth at constant currencies of -0.3% (Q2 2026: -0.1%)
- Handmade cigars deliver organic net sales growth of 6% (Q2 2026: 5%)
- XQS is expanding into menthol and new markets while continuing to strengthen its market positions
- Machine-rolled Cigars & Smoking Tobacco delivered negative organic net sales of 4% (Q2 2026: -4%)
Resilient profit margins
- EBITDA margin before special items was 19.9% (H1 2025: 18.8%) with positive impact from duty refunds
- EBIT margin before special items at 13.8% (H1 2025: 13.7%) negatively impacted from change in amortization of trademarks
Cash flow improvement versus last year
- Free cash flow before acquisitions was DKK 422 million (H1 2025: DKK 275 million). The delayed receivables from the end of last year have been recovered
- The cash flow development compared with last year primarily reflects improved contributions from the operating activities including changes in the working capital
Agreement to divest fine-cut tobacco brands BREAK and Moro signed in July
- Transaction value at DKK 1.3 billion with the post tax value at about DKK 1.0 billion
- BREAK and Moro accounted for about 4% of Group net sales in 2025
- Closing expected before the end of the year
Financial expectations for full-year 2026 maintained
For the full year we continue to expect the overall market trends to remain broadly in line with recent years across most of our product categories. Reported net sales growth at constant currencies is expected to be in the range from -2% to 2%, with EBIT margin before special items in the range of 13.0%-14.5%, free cash flow before acquisitions in the range of DKK 950-1,200 million and adjusted EPS in the range of DKK 9-11. These expectations do not include any effects from the expected divestment of the brands BREAK and Moro, see Company Announcement 8/2026.
Financial Summary
| Reported data in DKK million | Q2 2026 | Q2 2025 | Change | 6M 2026 | 6M 2025 | Change | |
| Net sales | 2,334 | 2,361 | -1% | 4,193 | 4,335 | -3% | |
| EBITDA before special items | 515 | 499 | 3% | 835 | 816 | 2% | |
| EBIT before special items | 388 | 389 | 0% | 581 | 594 | -2% | |
| EBIT margin before special items | 16.6% | 16.5% | 13.8% | 13.7% | |||
| Adjusted earnings per share (DKK) | 3.3 | 3.3 | 0% | 4.4 | 4.7 | -6% | |
| Free cash flow before acquisitions | 264 | 119 | 122% | 422 | 275 | 53% | |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 7.7% | 8.3% | |||||
| NIBD / EBITDA before special items | 3.0x | 2.9x |
Webcast The Group will present the First Half 2026 results at a conference call on 27 August 2026 at 10.00 CEST.
Dial-in information and the presentation deck will be available at st-group.com.
Contact info Torben Sand, Director of IR & Communications, phone +45 5084 7222, torben.sand@st-group.com.
Eliza Dabbagh, IR & Communications, phone +45 2420 8812, eliza.michael@st-group.com
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