“We expect full-year gross and OI margin expansion, in both organic and dollar terms, at prevailing exchange rates.”

In context

“cludes organic gross margin expansion in combustibles, where we had previously assumed a negative development. In addition, we are focused on delivering further SG&A efficiencies while continuing to invest in smoke-free growth. As a result, we are raising our organic operating income growth forecast to plus 10% to plus 12%. Accordingly, we are raising our forecast currency-neutral adjusted diluted EPS growth to plus 9% to plus 11%. This translates into an adjusted diluted EPS range of $6.19 to $6.31, including an unfavorable currency impact of $0.36, at prevailing rates. The increased forecast headwind is primarily explained by the devaluation of the Egyptian pound and recent weakness in the Japanese Yen. As I mentioned, we are taking pro-active actions to mitigate the incremental impact. We expect full-year gross and OI margin expansion, in both organic and dollar terms, at prevailing exchange rates. This includes organic expansion in both H1 and H2. After the excellent Q1 performance, we expect a strong H1 overall with organic net revenue and OI growth around the high end of our full year ranges. For Q2 specifically, we assume HTU shipment volumes of 34 billion to 35 billion and continued strong volume growth from ZYN. We forecast currency-neutral adjusted diluted EPS of $1.50 to $1.55, including an unfavorable currency variance of $0.14, at prevailing rates. With regard to our balance sheet, deleveraging remains a key priority. We continue to target a 0.3x to 0.5x improvement in our net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio in 2024, driven by profit growth and strong cash flow generation. We also continue to target reaching around 2x by the end of 2026 and will consider buybacks once confir”