Philip Morris International announced its fourth quarter and full-year results on February 8, showing that the company's performance expectations for 2024 were lower than expected. The slowdown in sales growth of its flagship heated tobacco product IQOS has particularly worried analysts. .
According to its financial report, total shipments of Philip Morris cigarettes and heated tobacco in the fourth quarter of 2023 reached US$185.1 billion, and US$738.2 billion for the whole year; total shipments of heated tobacco in the fourth quarter reached US$34 billion, year-on-year. Increased 6.1%; full year $1,25.3, an increase of 14.7% compared to full year 2022. PMI's third consecutive year of sales growth was driven by heated tobacco. The market share of heated tobacco in the IQOS market increased by 1.2% to 9.1%.
According to Reuters, as the maker of Marlboro, PMI has so far led the tobacco giant's transformation into smoking alternatives, and IQOS is the core of this effort. PMI has invested more than 10 billion in research and development costs for it since 2008. Dollar.
However, even so, the slowdown in IQOS sales growth still worries the outside world. PMI said it expects shipments to take a further hit in 2024 due to the European Union's ban on the use of flavored heated tobacco. However, CEO Jacek Olczak said IQOS's net revenue now exceeds that of Marlboro. "We are entering 2024 with strong momentum," he said in a statement.
"Our business ended 2023 strong and achieved some notable milestones on the road to becoming a smoke-free company," said CEO Jacek Olczak.
Analysts said any sustained slowdown in IQOS sales would be a problem for PMI, given its importance to the company's business and the company's premium relative to peers.
IQOS will be trialled this year in the United States, the world's largest market for smoking alternatives, followed by a full rollout.
