Philip Morris International Inc. Announces Temporary Suspension of Operations at Manufacturing Technology Bologna
March 23 2020 - 9:27AM
Business Wire
Philip Morris International believes there
are adequate inventories of finished goods for an extended
period
Philip Morris International Inc. (“PMI”) (NYSE: PM) announced
today that it will implement a temporary suspension of its
operations at Philip Morris Manufacturing & Technology Bologna
S.p.A., Italy (“MTB”) due to the ongoing situation regarding
COVID-19. In agreement with social partners, the Company has
decided to suspend production for a period of one week, out of an
abundance of caution and to support the government’s efforts to
limit propagation of COVID-19.
The Company will monitor the situation closely with a view to
restarting operations as soon as possible, subject to government
requirements.
Although several governments have mandated production facilities
to temporarily suspend their operations, currently for periods from
one to two weeks, PMI does not currently expect out-of-stock
situations in any major operating income markets and believes
consumers still have adequate access to its products.
As part of its ongoing business continuity plans, there are
adequate inventories of PMI finished goods, on average across all
markets, of over two months for heated tobacco units (“HTUs”), over
three months for tobacco heating devices, and over one and a half
months for cigarettes, based on sales trends recorded prior to the
situation generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although MTB
accounted for approximately 50% of HTU production as of February
2020, PMI’s other HTU facilities currently remain operational, with
an annual installed capacity of approximately 70 billion units. The
above-mentioned government-mandated production suspensions affect
approximately 20% of PMI’s cigarette-production capacity
worldwide.
“In this unprecedented global situation, our primary concern
remains the health and safety of our colleagues, their families,
and the communities in which we operate,” said Jacek Olczak, PMI
Chief Operating Officer. “We have therefore decided to temporarily
suspend operations at our facility near Bologna. We are committed
to doing our part and have taken a number of steps over the last
two months to protect our people and ensure continuity of supply to
our customers and consumers.”
PMI has implemented a number of measures to protect employees in
its manufacturing facilities and offices around the world,
including: asking office-based employees to work from home,
limiting business travel, canceling large in-person gatherings and
events, restricting access to factories to essential workers,
implementing temperature screening where permitted, enhancing
cleaning and sanitization protocols, compartmentalizing activities,
and enforcing personal protective equipment use, personal hygiene
and social distancing.
-ENDS-
Philip Morris International: Delivering a Smoke-Free
Future
Philip Morris International (PMI) is leading a transformation in
the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately
replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of
adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company
and its shareholders. PMI is a leading international tobacco
company engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, as well
as smoke-free products and associated electronic devices and
accessories, and other nicotine-containing products in markets
outside the United States. In addition, PMI ships a version of its
IQOS Platform 1 device and its consumables authorized by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration to Altria Group, Inc. for sale in the
United States under license. PMI is building a future on a new
category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a
much better choice than continuing to smoke. Through
multidisciplinary capabilities in product development,
state-of-the-art facilities and scientific substantiation, PMI aims
to ensure that its smoke-free products meet adult consumer
preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. PMI's smoke-free
IQOS product portfolio includes heat-not-burn and
nicotine-containing vapor products. As of December 31, 2019, PMI
estimates that approximately 9.7 million adult smokers around the
world have already stopped smoking and switched to PMI's
heat-not-burn product, available for sale in 52 markets in key
cities or nationwide under the IQOS brand. For more information,
please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com.
Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements that involve a
number of risks and uncertainties and are made pursuant to the Safe
Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. Important factors that may cause actual results and
outcomes to differ materially from those contained in the
forward-looking statements included in this release are described
in PMI publicly filed reports, including those described under Item
1A. “Risk Factors” in PMI’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2019 and also entail risks of further
developments regarding COVID-19.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200323005373/en/
Investor Relations: Nick Rolli New York: +1 (917) 663
2233 Lausanne: +41 (0)58 242 4666 Media:Tommaso di
Giovanni Lausanne: +41 (58) 242 6748 Email:
Tommaso.DiGiovanni@pmi.com
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