5 Comments

Not sure if this has ever come up in a Q&A, but why does PMI exclude traditional oral in presentations and press releases? e.g. 2023Q4 slide 8 note (a): "[Oral nicotine category e]xcludes snuff, snuff leaf and U.S. chew." Is PMI possibly preparing to sell traditional brands such as General, Göteborgs Rapé, and Grov?

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A potential sale is possible, but I do not view it as probable, as the pool of prospective suitors is limited, and of those suitors, some would face considerable antitrust concerns due to consolidating share.

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I don’t smoke but sometimes I feel like trying out some of these new generation products, just so I know what my companies invest in. Alas here in the nanny state of Oz I need a prescription to purchase a vape, I kid you not. So I haven’t bothered. I might have to invest in a Japanese research trip :)

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Thank you for addressing the BAT - PMI global patent settlement!

Has PMI decided against divested its Russian operations? I might be confused, but I thought that was their goal after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However in their 2024 guidance they have dropped language about divestment.

One thing I find frustrating about PMI (and for that matter all the major nicotine companies): they “adjust away” so many losses. Their 2024 GAAP EPS is $5.02 vs $6.01 after adjustments. In comparison, SWMA had extremely clean financials with usually no adjustments.

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Following the invasion of Ukraine the company decided to start presenting figure pro forma excluding Russia and was exploring a sale of the assets. Since then, they've largely concluded that a sale isn't feasible as Russia would force a terribly unfavorable price, and they have added back Russia into presented figures. While I haven't published an updated model, I'm still looking at the company pro forma; offering considerable wiggle room if there is a resolution that allows not only a retention of operations but a resumption of all marketing and support.

I share in the frustration regarding how PMI presents certain figures; though this is not an issue exclusive to PMI. On the other hand, it does offer investors quite a bit to chew on regarding how they are making their own adjustments in mapping out potential futures; something that should be done regardless of how a company is (or isn't) adjusting certain items. Certainly, many things that are adjusted are not simple one-offs, but even those do help make comparisons across periods.

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