Philip Morris International (PMI) cigarette volume fell 11.5 per cent in the first quarter on weak demand for low-priced brands and inventory movements, the company said.

The decline in PMI volume was only 9.4 per cent when combined with shipments of the heat sticks used in its iQOS tobacco heating device. Cigarette volume accounted for 173.6 billion sticks and heated tobacco units for 4.4 billion units. Marlboro volume accounted for 62.4 billion sticks of cigarette volume, an 8.2 per cent drop from the first quarter of 2016.
Combined sales of cigarettes and reduced-risk products dipped 0.3 per cent to USD 6.1 billion (EUR 5.7 billion). Cigarette sales were down 6.6 per cent. Operating profit declined 2.2 per cent to USD 2.5 billion.
"We are fully on track to deliver our full-year EPS (earnings per share) guidance, driven by robust pricing and accelerating IQOS volume growth,” said Chief Executive Officer André Calantzopoulos. “We anticipate a combined cigarette and heated tobacco unit volume decline of 3 per cent to 4 per cent for the full year."