Higher duties
Aside from higher duties, Philip Morris had to fight illegal trade in Turkey, Russia and Ukraine, and struggled with a weaker Russian economy. Sales in the United States also dropped, not only because of social stigma, but also because of higher consumer awareness regarding the risks. The fact that CVS has also decided to eliminate smoking-related products from October onwards, will probably also impact the 2014 numbers.
Exchange rate fluctuations caused the 2013 turnover (31.5 billion dollars, some 23.2 billion euro) to drop 0.5 % compared to 2012. Had the exchange rates remained stable, turnover would have increased 2 %, the exact same number the operational profit dropped to 13.5 billion dollars (9.94 billion euro).
