Philip Morris will compete in the market of electronic cigarettes from 2014

Tobacco giant Philip Morris International announced that it will enter the heated market of electronic cigarettes next year and accelerate plans for other alternative products, at a time when sales of traditional cigarettes are falling.
The day before yesterday, the owner of the brands Marlboro and L&M lowered profit expectations for 2014. And stressed that the global volume of cigarettes could decrease 3% for the second year in a row and it will increase by $ 100 million spending on alternative products.
"We are looking at 2014 as a year of investment," said the Chief Executive Officer, Andre Calantzopoulos, in Conference organized by Morgan Stanley.
Philip Morris has an estimated 29% share of global cigarette market, not including the United States and China. (In 2008, she was spun off from the industry leader in the u.s., the Altria Group. The Chinese market is dominated by a State-owned company.)
Large increases in excise duty in Russia and the Philippines, the introduction of warnings on the packaging of Australia and stricter restrictions on marketing in a larger number of countries pressing sales of traditional cigarettes.
Rivals such as British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco launched or will launch electronic cigarettes, which use batteries to transform a nicotine liquid into vapor.
Worldwide sales of electronic cigarettes add up to $ 2 billion, a small fraction of the tobacco market, $ 800 billion. But they are growing rapidly, and the electronic cigarette is seen as less harmful than traditional use combustion.
"Our biggest growth opportunity is in the commercialization of products of low risk," said Calantzopoulos.
The idea is to start selling electronic cigarettes in the second half of 2014 using current technology. But Calantzopoulos says there is a greater potential in another technology under development by the company, mimicking the traditional cigarettes-uses tobacco instead of the liquid from the electronic version and doesn't need batteries.
Calantzopoulos says the company should begin testing the product in various cities in the second half of next year and promote the first national launch in 2015. Before, the company had informed that such products would be launched in 2016 or 2017.
Philip Morris said that the volume of cigarettes sold outside the United States and China should decrease 3% this year, compared with a fall of 0.7% in 2012. In 2014, it is expected that the volume fall 2% other 3%. The company predicts that the annual decline down to 1% to 2% in 2015, as European economies improve and the adverse effects of the tax increases slow down.
Philip Morris designed that its adjusted profit neutral currency per share climb from 6% to 8% in 2014, below the estimate of 10% for 2013 and the long-term goal of 10% to 12% for the annual growth rate of profit. And added that he remains confident on the way back to a double-digit growth in 2015. The company closed with 3% drop yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange, listed at $ sell 86.60.