Billion-dollar dividends, stable turnover of one trillion – this is how the National Tobacco Shop Supplier Ltd. performed in 2024

Double-digit profit, decreasing concession fee

The company’s profit increased compared to 9.5 billion forints in 2023, while the largest cost element, the concession fee, decreased from 12.3 billion forints to 8.3 billion. The reason for the decrease is not detailed in the report, but it certainly represents a favorable turn in terms of profit rate.

Since its founding in 2015, the company has generated more than 55 billion forints in profit, of which the owners have withdrawn 52.5 billion as dividends – meaning that the vast majority of the profit has directly become private capital.

Ownership background: global multinationals and domestic asset managers

ODBE’s ownership structure is based on two players:

49 percent belongs to BAT Pécsi Dohánygyár,

51 percent belongs to Tabán Trafik Zrt., which, through several private individuals and two foundations – Solidium Capital and Projekt Six Pro – belongs to the interests of Hódmezővásárhely entrepreneur József Sánta.

József Sánta ranks 41st on this year’s list of the 100 richest Hungarians with a fortune of 71 billion forints, a significant part of which comes from the tobacco trade.

The other owner, BAT (British American Tobacco), is one of the world’s largest tobacco companies, with brands such as Lucky Strike, Pall Mall and Rothmans. In addition to its global presence, BAT has also had legal scandals: in 2023, it paid a $635 million fine to the US government after admitting that it had committed a sanctions violation by exporting tobacco products to North Korea between 2009 and 2017.