Philip Morris International’s (PMI) heated tobacco unit shipments in the Jan-March period increased by more than 100 per cent over the comparable period in 2017, which partly offset declines seen in combustible cigarette volumes, the company said in its 2018 first-quarter consolidated results.

PMI shipped 9.566 billion heated tobacco units in the first quarter, an increase of 5.131 billion units, or 115.7 per cent, over the 4.435 billion units shipped in the first quarter of 2017.
The company’s heatstick shipments more than doubled in four of the five regions where the heated tobacco consumable for its IQOS device is sold. First quarter shipments in the European Union increased from 184 million to 928 million, from 54 million to 564 million in Eastern Europe, from 51 million to 709 million in Middle East & Africa, and from 1 million to 23 million in Latin America & Canada.
PMI said heated tobacco unit volumes helped to partly offset a 5.3 per cent decline in total cigarette shipments in the first quarter. Cigarette volumes declined in five of the six sales regions the first quarter, with shipments down 6.7 per cent in the European Union, 10.4 per cent in Eastern Europe, 8.5 per cent in Middle East & Africa, 18.3 per cent in East Asia and Australia, and 1.5 per cent in Latin America & Canada. PMI shipped 6.1 per cent more cigarettes in the South & Southeast Asia region in the three-month period.
At 164.3 billion units, total cigarette volume was down 9.3 billion sticks, or 5.3 per cent, which PMI attributed to a range of factors in different markets.
Total shipment volume, including cigarette and heated tobacco units, was down 2.3 per cent.
Net revenues for the first quarter were up by 13.7 per cent, at USD 6.9 billion (EUR 5.574 billion) and PMI said operating income was up 0.4 per cent, at USD 2.426 billion.
CEO, André Calantzopoulos, said PMI began the year with good currency-neutral revenue growth, driven by an increase in volume of heated tobacco units and higher pricing from the company’s portfolio of combustible cigarette brands. “We are confident in our ability to deliver strong results this year”, the Chief Executive Officer said.