Non-duty-paid cigarettes hit legitimate market

Taxed cigarettes’ share of the Philippines’ market declined last year, according to a story in The Philippine Star quoting Philip Morris International’s fourth quarter and full-year report.

PMI was quoted as saying that the estimated industry-wide tax-paid cigarette volume fell by 4.6 percent to about 82.3 billion units last year, reflecting the prevalence of domestic non-duty paid products.

The company said that while its shipment volume in the Philippines decreased by 0.2 percent to 68.4 billion units, its share of the estimated total tax-paid cigarette industry rose by 3.7 percentage points to 83 percent.

In the fourth quarter of 2014, alone, the estimated industry-wide tax-paid cigarette volume had fallen by 12.9 percent to 21.8 billion units, reflecting a higher incidence of non-tax-paid volume.

CEO André Calantzopoulos said PMI remained upbeat about its prospects in the Philippines despite lackluster sales.

“While the Philippines continued to be a challenge and a drain on our 2014 income performance, we have recently witnessed significant positive price movements at the lower end of the market,” Calantzopoulos said.