Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Bonnie Herzog: Good morning, I guess my question is on your op margin guidance and the implied deleverage. Maybe you could breakdown the headwinds you highlighted just a bit further and thinking about in the context of what you can control like the investments, you’re making to drive future growth. Could you help frame that for us? Just trying to think through, how big of a step-up the investments will be this year versus last year? And then, how do we think about the investments required next year and beyond? I guess, I’m trying to get a sense of how much of the investments required to essentially roll-out IQOS in the U.S., it will take place this year versus next year. And I’m well aware of the investments you need to roll out ILUMA, but anything there would be helpful?

Emmanuel Babeau: I’m please to take that one, Bonnie. So I think, on the U.S., we’ve been clear on the fact that we expect something like half of around $150 million, of course it’s a rounding of extra investment in the U.S. as we prepare the launch of IQOS in the U.S. that is for 2023. When we have a plan for the coming years and of course, with more detail, we will of course come to you and elaborate and detail that. Now for the rest of the business, I think we are and that was the sense of my comment on SG&A evolution. On a relatively regular basis, we are investing an extra few $100 million in ILUMA to be more specific, because, of course, very sensitive information behind the acceleration of IQOS and it’s going to come, of course, behind IQOS ILUMA in 2023.

So the growth, when we say, we expect SG&A to grow broadly in line with topline, there is a huge impact of inflation. I mean, I don’t need to explain that inflation is in most country around high single digit and we need to reflect that on salary increase. We have efficiency on cost in front of that and that is enabling us to on top of the inflation impact to keep investing on the growth of the business and we do that in a rather consistent manner, of course, very much focus behind ILUMA in 2023.

Bonnie Herzog: Okay, that’s helpful. And then just a second question if I may, it’s just related to the user growth in Q4 and IQOS, could you maybe talk through some of the puts and takes that you saw in the quarter. I mean, it seem to accelerate relative to Q3, despite some of the headwinds you had recently highlighted and then you did mention that ILUMA drives higher conversion rates than IQOS 3 DUO so, could you possibly quantify that for us? I guess, I’m trying to think through when that platform scales, do you expect your overall conversion to grow meaningfully possibly above your current 70% rate?

Jacek Olczak: Yes, so I maybe take the ILUMA conversion rates in the markets at this stage, run-rate conversion rates before an IQOS blade will be somewhere up in the range of a 10 percentage points. Okay, so obviously, different markets, there is some difference between the markets, but as a rule of thumb is about the 10 percentage point, which essentially means, the way we measure conversion at 10% of the devices sold through acquisition of new users, AG Snus and they should, and they are generating the recurring demand for the consumables. So this also has the – there’s a better productivity on the user acquisitions and devices sold. I want to just bridge back to the – your previous question, Bonnie, if you allow me. When we look at the U.S. investment, we’ve highlighted, including the wellness and healthcare, about $150 million.