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Company Announcement No. 42/2021 Interim report , 1 January - 30 June 2021 Scandinavian Tobacco Group A / S reports strong Q2 results and raises full year guidance Q2 Highlights In the second quarter of 2021 , Scandinavian Tobacco Group delivered a strong organic growth in net sales and EBITDA . The results were primarily driven by a continued high demand in handmade ci gars in the US , a favourable market mix and synergies from the integration of Agio Cigars . The sec ond quarter of last year was negatively impacted by the early phases of the COVID - 19 pandemic making comparisons relatively easy . ● ● ● SCANDINAVIAN TOBACCO GROUP ● Copenhagen , 19 August 2021 Net sales were DKK 2,156 million ( DKK 2,097 million ) with 7.5 % organic growth . EBITDA before special items was DKK 606 million ( DKK 489 million ) with 20.8 % organic growth . The EBITDA margin was 28.1 % ( 23.3 % ) . Adjusted Earnings Per Share ( EPS ) were DKK 4.1 ( DKK 3.0 ) . Free cash flow before acquisitions was DKK 434 million ( DKK 425 million ) . Return on Invested Capital was 12.3 % ( 7.6 % ) . In the first 6 months of 2021 , net sales grew by 9.8 % organically to DKK 4,039 million ( DKK 3,852 million ) , and EBITDA before special items grew by 32.6 % organically to DKK 1,133 million ( DKK 815 million ) with free cash flow before acquisitions stable at DKK 523 million ( DKK 547 million ) . CEO Niels Frederiksen : " We deliver a strong quarterly performance with growth in both net sales and EBITDA driven by strong sales of handmade cigars in the US and a favorable mix . We expect contin ued high demand for handmade cigars for the rest of the year and we are raising our financial expec tations for 2021 to reflect that . Additionally , we continue to implement our " Rolling towards 2025 " strategy and show good progress on the transformation of the company " . The financial outlook for 2021 is revised to : The current consumption of handmade cigars in the US combined with a strong market mix have driven the extraordinarily strong net sales growth during the first half of 2021. Growth is still ex pected to taper off during the second half of the year as year - on - year comparisons are more difficult especially in the third quarter and as the market mix is expected to normalize somewhat . However , the full year is now expected to be stronger than previously anticipated , although the risks remain higher than normal due to COVID - 19 . EBITDA : Organic growth in the range of 16 % -20 % ( from 12 % -18 % ) Free cash flow before acquisitions : In the range of DKK 1.0-1.3 billion Adjusted Earnings Per Share > 35 % increase ( from > 25 % increase )