Philip Morris International lights up in quarter two reporting

After a minor tumble following their Investor Days presentation (covered here and here) the Philip Morris International numbers make reassuring reading this morning. 

Ok, so the numbers were headline sequentially worse but this was covered in previous communications and - as shown below - needs to be adjusted for asset impairment and FX issues. 

One surprising result from the above were the European Union geographic numbers where there was a surprising Q2 volume increase:


Still the most impressive aspect of the numbers was the continuing pricing capability which more than offset overall volume/mix declines by a factor of around 3.5:1

 

Finally there is the continuing buyback programme which continues apace.  Still US$7bn to go...or 4.5% of market cap plus the 4.4% dividend yield too.  Investors remain well compensated in my view. 

With a mid x11s continuing EV/ebit valuation and the aforementioned dividend yield/buyback strategy investors are well compensated at prevailing.  Feels like a core position to me which I would augment further near that US$80.  I am still targeting a share price return to US$90+.