Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) has released its first quarter results for 2020 with reported net revenues of USD 7.15 billion up 6 per cent from Q1 2019, according to PMI’s press release.

Despite cigarette sales being down compared to the first quarter of 2019, PMI reported higher net revenues of USD 7.15 billion up from USD 6.75 billion at the same time last year. The operating income also increased from USD 2.05 billion to USD 2.79 billion.
In the cigarette and heated tobacco sector, PMI sold a total of 173.75 billion units worldwide during its first quarter which was 1.2 per cent less than in the first quarter of 2019. Whilst the number of cigarettes shipped decreased from 164.3 billion sticks to 157 billion sticks, the amount of heated tobacco units actually increased by 45.5 per cent from 11.5 billion to 16.73 billion units.
The company’s report also mentioned COVID-19 and potential effects on business, stating that PMI currently has sufficient access to the inputs for its products and is not facing any significant business continuity issues with respect to key suppliers. Furthermore, the large majority of PMI's manufacturing facilities globally are currently operational, including all heated tobacco unit factories. PMI estimates that there are adequate inventories of finished goods of over two months for heated tobacco units, over three months for tobacco heating devices, and over one and a half months for cigarettes.
Chief Executive Officer, André Calantzopoulos said, “We started the year with a very strong first quarter, reflecting continued structural growth momentum driven by our smoke-free portfolio and favourable combustible tobacco pricing. We experienced a limited impact on our performance from the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the onset of government restrictions related to social distancing and travel were generally only implemented in our key markets over the course of March.”
He went on to say, “We expect that the pandemic will have adverse impacts on our full-year 2020 business results. Those already observable relate to a severe reduction of our duty-free sales, slower IQOS user acquisition and delayed minimum price enforcement in Indonesia. We also have to assume that, in certain markets, unemployment and related reductions in disposable income will have a temporary impact on market dynamics or the ability of certain small retailers to operate."