Philip Morris sales and revenue grow as IQOS sales dart up
Tobacco giant Philip Morris turned in better-than-expected quarterly profits on Thursday, with the company's figures boosted by increased sales of its IQOS tobacco-heating device.
Philip Morris International Inc.
$99.02
11:10 24/04/24
Philip Morris, the company behind the likes of Marlboro, saw third-quarter earnings per share come in at $1.44, well ahead of both the $1.27 seen during the same period a year earlier and analysts' average estimate of $1.28.
Net revenues came to $7.5bn, up just 0.4% year-on-year as the company was held back by currency fluctuations. However, its FX woes were somewhat offset by a gain in market share throughout the quarter and pricing increases.
Philip Morris, which has gambled its future on its IQOS device, which heats tobacco instead of burning it, producing a vapor instead of smoke, also doubled-down on its full-year forecast for diluted earnings per share of $4.97 to $5.02.
The total volume of cigarette and heated tobacco units came in at 203.7bn, down 2.1% year-on-year, partly due to distributors in Japan thinning their inventories of IQOS products in anticipation of the launch of newer models of the device.
However, Philip Morris said global sales of its heated tobacco units looked set to double for 2018 as a whole.
As of 1620 BST, Philip Morris shares had lit up 4.53% to $88.45 each.