Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) has released its fourth quarter and end of year results for 2020 with net revenues down 3.7 per cent compared to 2019, according to PMI’s press release.

Despite net revenues for the full year dropping by 3.7 per cent to USD 28.69 million compared to 2019, the operating income was up 10.8 per cent. "In 2020, PMI delivered a robust business performance despite the unprecedented headwinds of the COVID-19 pandemic, with adjusted diluted EPS organic growth of 7.0 per cent, supported by stronger-than-anticipated fourth quarter results," said André Calantzopoulos, Chief Executive Officer.
In the cigarette and heated tobacco sector, PMI sold a total of 704.6 billion units worldwide during 2020, which was 8.1 per cent less than in 2019. Whilst the number of cigarettes shipped decreased from 706.7 billion sticks to 628.5 billion sticks, the amount of heated tobacco units continued to increase by 27.6 per cent from 59.7 billion to 76.1 billion units.
"IQOS continued to deliver impressive growth in 2020, driving significant increases in our total users, as well as both HTU shipment and in-market sales volumes. During the fourth quarter, we reported record HTU market shares in key IQOS geographies, and exited the year with double-digit national shares in ten markets," Calantzopoulos said.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the marketing of an IQOS version as a Modified Risk Tobacco Product in July 2020 and in December authorized the sale of the IQOS 3 device in the US through the issuance of a premarket tobacco marketing order. The total number of IQOS users at the end of the year is estimated at 17.6 million, of which approximately 12.7 million have switched to IQOS and stopped smoking.
"We enter 2021 with favourable momentum, although certain headwinds remain, notably related to Duty Free, Indonesia and the continued effects of the pandemic. For the full year, we are expecting a significant recovery, with mid-single-digit organic net revenue growth—driven by the growing contribution of IQOS—and further efforts on cost efficiencies driving an acceleration in forecasted adjusted diluted EPS growth to a range of 9 to 11 per cent on the same basis," Calantzopoulos concluded.