Longbeach (cigarette)

Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is an American multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. The most recognized and best selling product of the company is Marlboro. Philip Morris International is often referred to as one of the companies comprising Big Tobacco.

Until a spin-off in March 2008, Philip Morris International was an operating company of Altria. Altria explained the spin-off, arguing PMI would have more "freedom," i.e. leeway outside the responsibilities and standards of American corporate ownership in terms of potential litigation and legislative restrictions to "pursue sales growth in emerging markets", while Altria focuses on the American domestic market. The shareholders in Altria at the time were given shares in PMI, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange and other markets.

The company's legal seat is in New York City, but it does not operate in the United States of America. Philip Morris USA, a subsidiary of PMI's former owner American parent Altria group, owns the Philip Morris brands there. PMI's operational headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland.

With tobacco being addictive and the single greatest cause of preventable death globally, the company is highly controversial, not least because of its history of obfuscating scientific evidence around the health impacts of smoking. It has been the subject of litigation and restrictive legislation from governments.

With the world-wide decrease in smoking prevalence in the 21st century, shares of Philip Morris were no longer considered the "safe haven" they once were. However, it has to be noted that the absolute number of smokers continues to increase. The company ranked No. 101 in the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest corporations by total revenue.

History

Early development

The company states its history is traced to a London tobacconist, Philip Morris, opening a single shop on London's Bond Street in 1847 which sold tobacco and cigarettes. In 1881, Philip Morris' son, Leopold Morris, established "Philip Morris & Company and Grunebaum Ltd" with Joseph Grunebaum. In 1885, the company changed its name to "Philip Morris & Co. Ltd."

In 1894, William Curtis Thomson and his family began to control the company, and in 1902 the company was incorporated in New York. In 1919, the American business was acquired and incorporated as "Philip Morris & Co. Ltd., Inc." in Virginia.

Later development

In 1954, Philip Morris (Australia) became the first affiliate of Philip Morris & Co., Ltd, Inc. outside the U.S. In 1972, the company's Marlboro became the world's top-selling cigarette brand.

In 1987, Philip Morris International (PMI) was incorporated as an operating company of Philip Morris Companies Inc. In 2001, the operations center of the company was transferred from Rye Brook, New York, to Lausanne, Switzerland. On January 27, 2003, Philip Morris Companies Inc. formally changed its name to the Altria Group. In March 2008, Philip Morris International was spun off from Altria.

In April 2014, Philip Morris International announced that it would close its Moorabbin plant in Australia by the end of 2014 after operating for 60 years, due to the gradual decline of sales in the last ten years and difficulties conforming to 2010 Australian government regulation about reducing fire risks. In 2015, the company sold 850 billion cigarettes.

In August 2018 Reuters reported that Philip Morris "has been among foreign companies with exposure to Russia’s tobacco market. The company’s sales exposure to Russia is 7 percent, according to a note from Goldman Sachs."

As of 2019, main institutional investors are The Vanguard Group with an 8% stake, Capital Research & Management with 5% and BlackRock Fund Advisors with 4%.

In July 2021, Philip Morris International agreed to buy Vectura Group for £1 billion.

In November 2021, Philip Morris International announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters from New York to Stamford, Connecticut, which expected to take effect in Summer 2022, while its operational center remained in Lausanne.

In 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and boycott of the Russian market by many international companies, the company has faced trouble due to its high level of exposure to the Russian market, from which it was reluctant to disinvest. On the same year, PMI has agreed to a $16 billion deal with Swedish Match which would boost its position in cigarette alternatives.

Brands

Philip Morris International has six multibillion US$ brands including:
* Dji Sam Soe 234 was launched in 1913 and is a brand of kretek cigarettes. It is the best seller of kretek cigarettes in Indonesia. An iconic brand that is more than 100 years old and became the kretek cultural heritage.
* L&M was launched by Liggett & Myers in 1953 with the tagline: "American cigarettes of the highest quality with the best filter." L&M variants include full flavor shorts, full flavor 100s, lights, ultra lights, menthol shorts, menthol 100s, menthol light shorts, menthol light 100s, Turkish Blend shorts, Turkish Blend 100s, and L&M Mild Kretek.
* Longbeach include in Australia and Indonesia in 1999. Longbeach variant include: Longbeach Filter and Longbeach Mild.
* Marlboro was launched in 1904. Marlboro is the premium brand. Marlboro variants include: Marlboro Special, Marlboro Menthol, Marlboro Lights, Marlboro Lights Menthol, Marlboro Mix-9 Filter Kretek, Marlboro Flavor Plus, Marlboro Black Menthol, and Heatsticks, a heated tobacco product. The company's Marlboro brand ranked first among the most valuable tobacco brands of 2017 on BrandFinance's website, which uses the royalty relief method of brand valuation.
* ST Dupont Paris is the brand cigarette designed by Simon Tissot Dupont in 1902. With the black packaging. ST Dupont Paris variants include: filter, lights, menthol, and menthol lights.
* A Mild or Sampoerna A was launched in Indonesia on 1989. A Mild is a mild kretek cigarette sold in Indonesia. The iconic brands and best selling brand from Indonesia, now sold in Malaysia.
* Chesterfield was launched in 1896. Chesterfield is the third-largest international brand from Philip Morris, with a volume of 57 Billion cigarettes in 2019.
* Philip Morris is the fourth-largest international brand from Philip Morris, with a volume of 49 Billion cigarettes in 2019 and is sold in over 40 markets.

file:Warning on the French Cigarettes Pack.jpg, Basic
file:Benson & Hedges Silver 20.jpg, Benson & Hedges
file:Bondstreet cigarettes.JPG, Bond Street
File:Chesterfield Blue.JPG, Chesterfield
file:Dji Sam Soe.jpg, Dji Sam Soe 234
file:L&M Blue Label (5).jpg, L&M
file:Vintage Continental Cigarette Lighter, Lark Filter Cigarettes, Made in Japan (9734738526).jpg, Lark
file:Longbeach brand cigarettes.jpg, Longbeach
file:Marlboro red soft.jpg, Marlboro
file:2013 Marlboro Ice Blast open.jpg, Marlboro Ice Blast
file:MeritEgypt.jpg, Merit
File:S.T.Dupont Paris American blend cigarettes hard box.JPG, S.T. Dupont Paris

Board of directors

As of November, 2021:

* Bonin Bough
* Michel Combes
* André Calantzopoulos – Chairman
* Juan José Daboub
* Werner Geissler
* Lisa Hook
* Jennifer Li
* Jun Makihara
* Kalpana Morparia
* Lucio A. Noto
* Frederik Paulsen Jr
* Robert B. Polet
* Shlomo Yanai

Finances

For the fiscal year 2020 Philip Morris reported earnings of US$8.056 billion with an annual revenue of US$78.047 billion, a decrease of 1.6% over the previous fiscal cycle. Its shares traded at over $87 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$127.5 billion at the end of the fiscal year 2020.

Carbon footprint

Philip Morris International reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 492 Kt (-175 /-26.2% y-o-y)Alt URL
/ref> and commits to reduce absolute emissions 50% by 2030 from a 2019 base year. This science-based target is aligned with Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

Research

Philip Morris International's research center is located in Neuchatel, Switzerland and houses Philip Morris International's product research and development program. As of April 2018, earnings reports showed the company had spent $4.5 billion on four products: two that heat rather than burn tobacco, and two other nicotine products. One of these heat-not-burn tobacco products is IQOS.

Controversies

Foundation for a Smoke-free World

In September 2017, Philip Morris International announced the establishment of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, stating that it would support it with almost US$1 billion of funding over the next 12 years. The declared objective of the Foundation was to "evaluate the impact that smoke-free alternatives can have on smokers and public health, assess the effect of reduced cigarette consumption on the industry value chain, and measure overall progress towards a smoke-free world."
However, the Foundation, which claimed to be independent, was surrounded with controversy since its inception.
Its claims to independence have been challenged.

The World Health Organization issued a statement in which it pointed out the "conflicts of interest involved with a tobacco company funding a purported health foundation", indicating that it would not partner with the Foundation and inviting governments and the public health community to follow its lead. More than one hundred public health organizations have taken a strong stance in rejecting collaboration with the foundation.

Australia

The Australian Government announced it would introduce " Tobacco Plain Packaging Laws" on 29 April 2010. Philip Morris International (PMI), arranged for its wholly owned Hong Kong subsidiary Philip Morris Asia (PMA) to 'takeover' two Australian subsidiaries – Philip Morris Australia Limited and Philip Morris Limited on 23 February 2011. In June 2011, Philip Morris International announced that it was using ISDS provisions in the Australia-Hong Kong Bilateral Investment treaty (BIT) to demand compensation for Australia's plain cigarette packaging anti-smoking legislation. It was one of several tobacco companies to launch legal action against the Australian Government.
In response, British American Tobacco, Philip Morris, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International took the Australian government to the High Court of Australia to try to stop the government of Australia from introducing plain packaging for tobacco products.

Two challenges to the tobacco plain packaging legislation were heard by the High Court of Australia between 17 and 19 April 2012: 'British American Tobacco Australasia Limited and Ors v. Commonwealth of Australia' and 'J T International SA v. Commonwealth of Australia'.

On 15 August 2012, the High Court handed down orders for these matters, and found that the Tobacco Plain Packaging Act 2011 is not contrary to s 51(xxxi) of the Constitution. On 5 October 2012, the Court handed down its reasons for the decision. By a 6:1 majority (Heydon J in dissent) the Court held that there had been no acquisition of property that would have required provision of 'just terms' under s51(xxxi) of the Constitution.Australian Government Attorney-Generals Department
, retrieved 20 December 2015

On 18 December 2015, the Tribunal instituted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) issued a unanimous decision (3–0) agreeing with Australia's position that the Tribunal has no jurisdiction to hear PMA's claim. This was due to the fact that PMI used its wholly owned subsidiary PMA to takeover the Australian-based PM subsidiaries in order to specifically sue the Australian Government for bringing in plain packaging laws. PMI was unable to do this itself as the Australia–United States free-trade agreement signed in 2004 did not have any investor-state dispute settlement clauses included—by design.

In 2017, the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization supported Australia's right to enforce plain packaging. In 2017, PMI was instructed to pay the Australia government's legal costs, an estimated 50 million dollars.

In March 2018, the Tobacco giant announced that it will cut 150 jobs as part of a major restructure. Tammy Chan, the managing director in Australia, said more efficient ways to deal with retailers were introduced based on digital technology development.

European Union

In 2004, Philip Morris and the European Union reached an agreement according to which Philip Morris would pay $1.25bn until 2016 to end a lawsuit over smuggling charges.

Norway

Philip Morris also sued Norway over the country's ban on displaying tobacco products in stores. It lost the case in 2012.

Uruguay

In 2010, the company lobbied against Uruguay's strong anti-smoking laws and filed a complaint against the country ('' Philip Morris v. Uruguay'') under the Switzerland-Uruguay bilateral investment treaty. On 8 July 2016, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ruled in favour of Uruguay.

United Kingdom

In August 2014, the company foreshadowed legal action against the Government of the United Kingdom if it went ahead with plans to introduce plain packaging. In a submission to the government, Philip Morris International said it would seek compensation running into "billions of pounds," if the proposed legislation went ahead.

In 2018, an advertising campaign was criticized as hypocritical for urging smokers to quit while promoting other products such as heated tobacco.

IQOS

In 2017, according to two editors of the journal '' JAMA Internal Medicine'', after publication of a research letter describing harmful chemicals in heat-not-burn tobacco products, people from Philip Morris International contacted the institutions where the researchers worked and questioned the methods used in the study; the editors described this as a form of "pressure to suppress discourse that could harm commercial interests".

In December 2017, Reuters published documents and testimonies of former employees detailing irregularities in the clinical trials conducted by Philip Morris International for the approval of the IQOS product by the FDA.

In October 2020, Philip Morris launched its IQOS products in the UAE. The country had officially legalised the sale and use of electronic cigarettes in April 2019. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised the marketing of IQOS system, which includes IQOS devices and 3 HeatSticks variants, as a modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) in July 2020. IQOS is the first electronic alternative to cigarettes to be granted marketing orders through the FDA's MRTP process.

Cigarette smuggling in Africa

According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Philip Morris' representative in Burkina Faso, Apollinaire Compaoré, has earned millions by participating in cigarette smuggling in West Africa. In particular, he worked with a Nigerian narco-trafficker Chérif Ould Abidine, nicknamed Chérif Cocaine, to smuggle Marlboro cigarettes into Libya. This tobacco trafficking contributes to the financing of local conflicts and passes through six countries: Algeria, Libya, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger

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