Regulatory News:
Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) will host a live
audio webcast of its 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders today at
9:00 a.m. ET. The meeting will be held in a virtual format only,
including closed captioning, and can be accessed at
www.pmi.com/2020annualmeeting.
During the meeting, Louis C. Camilleri, Chairman of the Board,
and André Calantzopoulos, Chief Executive Officer, will address
shareholders and answer questions. Only shareholders of record with
a valid 16-digit control number will be allowed to ask a question
or make a comment.
“Our main focus at this time is on the health and wellbeing of
our employees, their families and the communities in which we
operate,” said André Calantzopoulos, Chief Executive Officer. “The
strength and spirit shown in these challenging times by the people
that make up our organization is a real inspiration to me and the
PMI management team, and I'd like to thank them again for their
outstanding endeavors.”
“The strong underlying performance of our business, especially
the impressive growth of reduced-risk products, was evident in our
full-year 2019 and first-quarter 2020 results. However, there is
considerable uncertainty as to the development and duration of the
COVID-19 pandemic and its economic and social consequences,
including those which impact our operating environment and our
consumers.”
“We remain confident in our structural mid-term growth prospects
and, when the current headwinds have passed, expect to resume
growth consistent with our 2019 to 2021 currency-neutral compound
annual growth targets. Crucially, our organization, liquidity and
balance sheet are strong. We will continue to protect and support
our employees, serve our consumers and reward our shareholders,
which includes our strong commitment to our dividend.”
Final voting results will be included in a Form 8-K that PMI
will file with the SEC within the next few days.
An archived copy of the webcast will be available for
approximately one year from the date of the meeting at
www.pmi.com/2020annualmeeting. Presentation slides and script will
also be available at the same website address.
Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
The presentation, related discussion and this press release
contain projections of future results and other forward-looking
statements. Achievement of future results is subject to risks,
uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions. In the event that risks
or uncertainties materialize, or underlying assumptions prove
inaccurate, actual results could vary materially from those
contained in such forward-looking statements. Pursuant to the “safe
harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995, PMI is identifying important factors that, individually or
in the aggregate, could cause actual results and outcomes to differ
materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements
made by PMI.
PMI's business risks include: excise tax increases and
discriminatory tax structures; increasing marketing and regulatory
restrictions that could reduce our competitiveness, eliminate our
ability to communicate with adult consumers, or ban certain of our
products; health concerns relating to the use of tobacco and other
nicotine-containing products and exposure to environmental tobacco
smoke; litigation related to tobacco use; intense competition; the
effects of global and individual country economic, regulatory and
political developments, natural disasters and conflicts; changes in
adult smoker behavior; lost revenues as a result of counterfeiting,
contraband and cross-border purchases; governmental investigations;
unfavorable currency exchange rates and currency devaluations, and
limitations on the ability to repatriate funds; adverse changes in
applicable corporate tax laws; adverse changes in the cost and
quality of tobacco and other agricultural products and raw
materials; and the integrity of its information systems and
effectiveness of its data privacy policies. PMI's future
profitability may also be adversely affected should it be
unsuccessful in its attempts to produce and commercialize
reduced-risk products or if regulation or taxation do not
differentiate between such products and cigarettes; if it is unable
to successfully introduce new products, promote brand equity, enter
new markets or improve its margins through increased prices and
productivity gains; if it is unable to expand its brand portfolio
internally or through acquisitions and the development of strategic
business relationships; or if it is unable to attract and retain
the best global talent. Future results are also subject to the
lower predictability of our reduced-risk product category's
performance.
PMI is further subject to other risks detailed from time to time
in its publicly filed documents, including the Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended March 31, 2020. PMI cautions that the foregoing list
of important factors is not a complete discussion of all potential
risks and uncertainties. PMI does not undertake to update any
forward-looking statement that it may make from time to time,
except in the normal course of its public disclosure
obligations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant societal and
economic disruption, and resulted in closures of stores, factories
and offices, and restrictions on manufacturing, distribution and
travel, all of which will adversely impact our business, results of
operations, cash flows and financial position during the
continuation of the pandemic. Our business continuity plans and
other safeguards may not be effective to mitigate the results of
the pandemic.
While much of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on our
business is still unknown, currently, significant risks include our
diminished ability to convert adult smokers to our RRPs as store
closures preclude in-person guided trials, significant volume
declines in our duty-free business and certain other key markets,
disruptions or delays in our manufacturing and supply chain,
increased currency volatility, and delays in certain cost saving,
transformation and restructuring initiatives. Our business could
also be adversely impacted if key personnel or a significant number
of employees or business partners become unavailable due to the
COVID-19 outbreak. The significant adverse impact of COVID-19 on
the economic or political conditions in markets in which we operate
could result in changes to the preferences of our adult consumers
and lower demand for our products, particularly for our mid-price
or premium-price brands. Continuation of the pandemic could disrupt
our access to the credit markets or increase our borrowing costs.
Governments may temporarily be unable to focus on the development
of science-based regulatory frameworks for the development and
commercialization of RRPs or on the enforcement or implementation
of regulations that are significant to our business. In addition,
messaging about the potential negative impacts of the use of our
products on COVID-19 risks may lead to increasingly restrictive
regulatory measures on the sale and use of our products, negatively
impact demand for our products, the willingness of adult consumers
to switch to our RRPs and our efforts to advocate for the
development of science-based regulatory frameworks for the
development and commercialization of RRPs.
The impact of these risks also depends on factors beyond our
knowledge or control, including the duration and severity of the
outbreak and actions taken to contain its spread and to mitigate
its public health effects, and the ultimate economic consequences
thereof.
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
U.S. 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 March 31, 2020, PMI estimates that approximately 10.6 million
adult smokers around the world have already stopped smoking and
switched to PMI's heat-not-burn product, available for sale in 53
markets in key cities or nationwide under the IQOS brand. For more
information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com.
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Investor Relations: New York: +1 (917) 663 2233 Lausanne: +41
(0)58 242 4666 InvestorRelations@pmi.com
Media: Lausanne: +41 (0)58 242 4500 Iro.Antoniadou@pmi.com
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