“we expect excellent organic OI growth over the second half of the year.”

In context

“to the expected market launch in Taiwan, limited underlying growth in Russia and Ukraine, as well as some uncertainty related to inventory level in the EU as trade partner adjusts to the upcoming HTU flavor ban. For combustible, the resilience of our portfolio is reflected in an updated forecast of a 1% to 2% cigarette volume decline. ZYN continues to perform exceptionally with strong adult consumer traction. Following a further step up in the US volume run rate, we are now increasing our full year nicotine pouch forecast range to 390 million to 410 million cans. Combining the improved volume outlook with robust pricing and continued positive mix, we are narrowing our organic net revenue growth forecast to around plus 8%, the midpoint of our previous range. As I will come back to shortly, we expect excellent organic OI growth over the second half of the year. Combining this strong profit performance with the continuation of ZYN’s phenomenal growth and diligent cost management allows us to raise our currency neutral adjusted diluted EPS growth forecast to plus 10% to plus 10.5%. This means we now expect double digit growth for the third year running and translate into a full-year range of $6.05 to $6.08, including an estimated unfavorable currency impact of $0.53 at prevailing rates. Last, despite increased currency headwinds, we continue to expect operating cash flow of around $10 billion for the year. This sets us up nicely as we focus on deleveraging towards our target of around 2 times adjusted net debt to EBITDA in 2026. Now, let me provide a different view of our forecasted results. As you can see, 2023 has very much been a year of two ha”