Philip Morris International (PMI) cigarette shipment volume fell 8.4 billion units or 3.8 per cent in the fourth quarter as demand weakened in Eastern Europe. Marlboro volume declined 4.6 per cent, the company said.

Unfavourable foreign exchange movements cut into profit for the quarter, which plummeted nearly 19 per cent. Currency movements and plant closures in Europe, Australia and Canada lowered full year profit, the company said. The switch from contract buying to tobacco purchases from two US leaf suppliers, announced in November, also incurred costs, PMI said.
“Despite a historically high adverse currency headwind, we enter 2015 with strong business momentum that underpins our target annual growth rates, excluding currency and acquisitions, of 4 per cent to 6 per cent for net revenues, 6 per cent to 8 per cent for adjusted operating companies income and 8 per cent to 10 per cent for adjusted diluted earnings per share", said Chief Executive Officer André Calantzopoulos.
PMI volume declined to 214.9 billion sticks in the three months to 31 Dec, as other key brands Parliament, Bond Street, Philip Morris, Chesterfield and Lark also declined. Fine-cut volume expanded. Overall volume for other tobacco products (OTP) rose 3 per cent, and 3.4 per cent for the full year.
Last year PMI shipped 856 billion cigarettes, a 2.8 per cent decline. Operating companies income (OCI) at USD 12.1 billion (EUR 10.7 billion) was 12.4 per cent less than in 2013. Fourth quarter OCI fell USD 600 million to USD 2.6 billion.