“Given our Q2 performance and the latest industry dynamics, we now expect a more moderate full-year decline in our cigarette volumes of around 2%-3%, versus 3% previously, which remains consistent with the structural evolution of the category.”

In context

“Emmanuel Babeau: Notable call-outs include Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, and relative resilience in India and Mexico. However, with industry volumes declining low to mid single-digit in more developed smoke-free markets, where the average unit economics of cigarettes are more favorable, this generated an unfavorable mix impact on net revenue. For H1 overall, cigarette volumes declined by 1.9%. Given our Q2 performance and the latest industry dynamics, we now expect a more moderate full-year decline in our cigarette volumes of around 2%-3%, versus 3% previously, which remains consistent with the structural evolution of the category. Taken together, we now expect total shipment volume to be around stable to slightly positive for the full year, with high single-digit growth in smoke-free products broadly offsetting the decline in cigarettes. Turning to our H1 top-line growth drivers.”