Philip Morris Posts First-Quarter Results

Philip Morris International reported net revenues of $8 billion in the first quarter of 2023, up 3.5 percent over those from the comparable quarter in the previous year. Smoke-free product net revenues increased 14.5 percent to $2.8 billion. The company’s operating income was $2.7 billion during the quarter, 17.2 percent less than in the comparable 2022 quarter.

PMI shipped 171.1 billion cigarettes and heated-tobacco units during the 2023 quarter, down 1.1. percent from the 2022 quarter. The volume of heated-tobacco units increased 10.4 percent to 27.4 billion. Shipments of oral products, boosted by the company’s acquisition of Swedish Match, rose to 173.3 million cans.

“Our business performed strongly in the first quarter, with adjusted diluted EPS [earnings per share] of $1.38 exceeding our expectations,” said PMI CEO Jacek Olczak in a statement.

“Net revenues increased by 3.5 percent on a reported basis and by 3.2 percent organically, reflecting accelerated combustible tobacco pricing and robust underlying heated-tobacco unit shipment volume growth before the impact of inventory movements.

“We continue to successfully integrate Swedish Match, which delivered impressive—and accretive—results, accelerating our transition to a majority smoke-free company. The outstanding performance of Zyn in the U.S. complemented the positive momentum of IQOS, including the excellent traction of ILUMA across launch markets, and reinforces our position as a truly global smoke-free champion.

“With our encouraging start to the year, we are reaffirming our full-year 2023 forecast for organic net revenue growth of 7 percent to 8.5 percent and currency-neutral adjusted diluted EPS growth of 7 percent to 9 percent.”