Philip Morris International (PMI) volume fell by 824 million sticks, a 0.4 per cent decline, in the third quarter primarily due to slumping Asian business, the company said.

Asia sales fell more than 12 per cent, influenced by foreign exchange rates, and operating companies income (OCI) plummeted 27.2 per cent. Worldwide, OCI declined 5.5 per cent to USD 3.46 billion (EUR 2.73 billion) in the three months to 30 Sept.
Global shipments of the Marlboro flagship brand declined 3.5 per cent to 72.6 billion sticks, although volumes rose in eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Total volume was 222.3 billion units, the company said.
“While currency headwinds have stiffened, our underlying business momentum is such that we remain confident we are on course to achieve currency-neutral adjusted diluted EPS growth for the full year 2014 of approximately 6.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent”, said André Calantzopoulos, chief executive officer.