Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

We don’t have a convergence of strength between ZYN and IQOS. So, to be very clear, we haven’t been suddenly increasing at that stage by several hundred people to the sales force. It’s happening gradually as we build the capacity for IQOS starting Q2 next year. There is other investment that we’re doing in our digital capacity and digital commercial engine. Again, just the beginning. So, I don’t think it is really today behind the growth that we see behind ZYN, but these are additional strengths and capacity. And again, I think we are very excited about the amazing teams that IQOS and ZYN can be in the future in the US.

Vivien Azer: That’s really helpful. Thank you for that. And then just moving to the Wellness and Healthcare segment for my second question, please, understanding some of the challenges around the clinical trial, I was wondering if you could just comment on your aspiration to delever the balance sheet post the Swedish Match transaction versus the potential need for incremental M&A as you think about an ultimate $1 billion revenue target, understanding that you pushed out the date for that. Thank you.

Emmanuel Babeau: Yes, and I want to be very clear. I mean, the focus is on deleveraging the balance sheet. We are focusing on extracting the great potential that we have in our smoke-free business. I mentioned IQOS and ZYN together. We certainly want to grow VEEV as well. But I think there is so much potential on IQOS and ZYN that it’s of course the key focus today. And we are spending our time, energy on maximizing the potential there, and that’s going to generate deleveraging. So, the time today is not for us to think about, I would say, a structural move on M&A in other spaces. We are very much focused on optimizing this great potential that we have in our smoke-free business today.

Vivien Azer: Thank you.

Operator: We’ll take our next question from Gaurav Jain with Barclays. Your line is open.

Gaurav Jain: Hi. Good morning. So, I have a question on ZYN in the US. So, the volumes are coming in much ahead of where I think consensus is where we were. We also know that US cigarette volumes have persisted at very weak rates despite easy comps. So, what do you think is the cannibalization rate of ZYN on US cigarettes today? And as you project out IQOS growth over the next seven years, if ZYN’s cannibalization is higher than what is thought of, then does it mean that the cigarette universe is smaller, which implies that the IQOS opportunity is smaller?

Emmanuel Babeau: It’s, Gaurav, an excellent question. I believe – first of all, I’m not going to be able to give a precise answer, as you can imagine. I believe that there is probably some cannibalization for the reason I mentioned. We see behaviors developing of people that probably are aware, combustible user, and they discovered that they can enjoy their nicotine in a different manner, with certainly positive perception on when they can do it and the impact on them. Now, I’m not able to tell you whether this is something very material. So, I don’t have any data at that stage. And I’m sure we’ll try to elaborate on the ZYN driver on the 28th of September, but as I said, I’m not able to share with you any hard data on how it’s materializing.

Frankly, I don’t think that this is going to be really relevant for IQOS because maybe in a kind of super marginal manner. But here we talk about with IQOS, smokers who want to enjoy when they are still enjoying today combustible cigarette, but different product that is mimicking very closely their pleasure, with clearly personal benefit on their health, but also on their lifestyle. So, I don’t see the ZYN moment as something that is going to compete with IQOS in a meaningful manner. So, I think that that’s not something that we see as a risk to undermine IQOS potential in the future.