ANNUAL REPORT 2015: IMPROVED UNDERLYING MARGINS AND STRONG CASH FLOW

Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S – a world leading manufacturer of cigars and traditional pipe tobacco – announces its result for the fourth quarter and full year 2015.

Highlights 2015:

Net sales increased by 9.9% to DKK 6,732 million – organic growth of 0.3%
Reported EBITDA increased by 5.9% to DKK 1,247 million - organic growth in EBITDA of 2.2%
Profitability improvement leading to adjusted EBITDA margin of 20.5% (20.3%)
Net profit increased by 4.3% to DKK 668 million
Cash flow from operating activities increased by 21.7% to DKK 1,285 million
Net sales and EBITDA margin delivered in accordance with our guidanceWe achieved approx. 10% of the cost savings which in total are expected to amount to DKK 140 million annually in 2018 as a result of our optimisation and efficiency programme initiated in 2015. DKK 225 million of the expected DKK 500 million in inventory reductions by 2018 were achieved during the year.
The Board of Directors proposes an ordinary dividend per share of DKK 5.00 corresponding to a 17% increase vs. 2014 and a 75% pay-out ratio of the net profit

CEO Niels Frederiksen comments:

“In 2015, we made significant progress in optimising our business and we plan for more. We report improved organic growth in EBITDA and improved cash flow. We have increased productivity and successfully realised synergies from our 2014 acquisition of the Belgian cigar manufacturer Verellen. Our initiated optimisation and efficiency programme is expected to deliver tangible cost savings and working capital improvements. Our financial performance for 2015 supports our expectations for 2016.”

GUIDANCE MAINTAINED FOR 2016

Our guidance for 2016 is unchanged. We expect an organic growth in net sales of 1-3% and an organic growth in EBITDA of 3-5%. Capex is expected to be approx. DKK 250 million including capex of DKK 100 million related to the implementation of the revised EU Tobacco Products Directive.

The annual report for 2015 is available for download here.

A company announcement regarding the full year numbers can be found here.

For further information, please contact:

For media enquiries:
Kaspar Bach Habersaat, Director of Group Communications, phone: +45 7220 7152
or kaspar.bach@st-group.com.

For investor enquiries:

Torben Sand, Head of Investor Relations, phone: +45 7220 7126 or torben.sand@st-group.com.

ABOUT SCANDINAVIAN TOBACCO GROUP

Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S with its subsidiaries (the "Group") is a world leading producer of cigars and traditional pipe tobacco. The Group also produces fine-cut tobacco and sells tobacco-related accessories. The Group produces and sells 3 billion cigars and 5,000 tonnes of pipe and fine-cut tobacco annually. Scandinavian Tobacco Group believes it is the only company globally with a core strategic focus on production and distribution in all of these tobacco categories.

Scandinavian Tobacco Group holds market-leading positions in the machine-made cigar market in Europe, the handmade cigar market in the US, the online and catalogue retail sales of cigars in the US, the traditional pipe tobacco market globally and in selected fine-cut tobacco markets.

Scandinavian Tobacco Group has a diversified portfolio of more than 200 brands providing a complementary range of established global brands and local champions. In the cigar segment, the brand portfolio comprises Café Crème, La Paz, Macanudo, CAO, Partagas (US) and Cohiba (US). Pipe tobacco brands include Captain Black, Erinmore, Borkum Riff and W.Ø. Larsen, while leading fine-cut tobacco brands include Bugler, Break, Escort, Bali Shag and Tiedemanns.

As at 31 December 2015, the Group employed approx. 8,100 people in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Indonesia, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the US.

For more information please visit www.st-group.com.

Scandinavian Tobacco Group A/S
Sydmarken 42
DK-2860 Søborg
Denmark

CVR 31 08 01 85