Philip Morris International Inc. (PM)’s Results: Earnings Increase while Cigarette Volumes Continues to Suffer

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) came out with its second quarter results, Fox Business News reported. The company’s net income fell from $2.12 billion, or $ 1.30 per share last year, to $1.85 billion or $1.17 per share this year. After adjusting for certain items, the earnings amounted to $1.41 per share beating analysts earning forecast of $1.24 per share. The company’s earnings also took a hit due to an unfavorable currency impact of $0.15 a share, if taken into account the earnings rose 20% from last year.

Analysts on the Street had predicted revenues excluding service tax to be in the tune of $7.52 billion, whereas Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) posted a decline of 1.5% in revenues, from $7.92 billion last year to $7.8 billion this year. The company said in a statement that excluding the impact of currency fluctuations the revenue has actually increased by 4.5%.

Due to decline in cigarette consumption from all the major regions except Europe, Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) said its cigarette volume fell by 2.7% to 222.8 billion units in the second quarter. The company also highlighted the fact that it is facing difficulties in Asia and price discounts in Australia which will put it at the lower end of its forecast for the second half of the year. In June, Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) had reduced its annual forecast from $5.26 the previous year, to a range of $4.87 to $4.97.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) was spun-off from Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO) to sell iconic brands like Marlboro outside the United States, while Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO) could focus on domestic sales. With cigarette sales volume continuing to drop in most of the developed countries, Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) is looking to increase its presence in the emerging markets.

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