Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM)

Philip Morris International est une compagnie de tabac indépendante et autonome qui s'est séparée de son ancienne société mère Altria (MO) le 28 Mars 2008. Il s'agit du plus grand producteur mondial de produits du tabac, avec 15,7% de part de marché hors Etats-Unis. Le siège opérationnel est situé à Lausanne, en Suisse, depuis 2002. Depuis le spin-off opéré par Altria, le siège social est situé à New York. En vertu des accords de séparation, PMI n'opère cependant pas aux États-Unis (qui restent le territoire de Philip Morris USA, société avec qui elle partage le nom des marques mais qui lui est complètement distincte).

One reason for the split of PMI from Altria Group is the difference in demand for international tobacco sales compared to the domestic market. While international sales continue to grow, Altria's domestic revenue is declining due to high government taxes on tobacco and the negative image of the tobacco industry in the United States.

The top 25 brands of Philip Morris International are Marlboro, L&M, Bond Street, Philip Morris, Chesterfield, Fortune, Parliament, Lark, Morven Gold, 234 cigarettes, U Mild, Next, Optima, Red & White, Muratti, Diana, Merit, Champion, Virginia Slims, Apollo-Soyuz, Hope, Delicados, Longbeach, Minak Djinggo, Marathon.

PM offers a generous current efficiency of 3.9%. C'est certes moins que le rendement moyen à long terme (4.56%), mais c'est quand même pas mal par les temps qui courent. De plus la croissance annuelle moyenne du dividende est soutenue, avec 12.55%. Le distribution ratio reste quant à lui correct, avec 66.83%, ce qui laisse assez de marge pour continuer assurer le paiement du dividende, voire même de continuer à le faire progresser, même en cas de baisse des bénéfices.

La faiblesse de PM, c'est clairement sa volatility, with 29.72%, which can easily discourage more than one investor. On the other hand, this volatility is not too linked to market fluctuations, which is attested by a beta of 0.87.

Philip Morris International employs approximately 75,300 people worldwide. Its products are manufactured in more than 50 factories worldwide: the main factories are located in the Netherlands (Bergen op Zoom), Russia (Saint Petersburg), Germany (Berlin), Turkey (Izmir), Poland (Krakow), Ukraine (Kharkiv) and Portugal (Albarraque). Neuchâtel in Switzerland is home to the Philip Morris Products SA factory (formerly Fabriques de tabac réunies), as well as the group's Research and Development center.

In 2010, PMI sold 899 billion cigarettes in more than 160 markets (European Union 223 billion; Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa 289 billion; Asia 282 billion; Latin America and Canada 105 billion), or 16 % of the international market outside the United States1. At the global level, it is the second largest producer of cigarettes, the first being the Chinese tobacco monopoly China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC).

Production and sales outside the United States make PM resistant to fluctuations in the greenback, even though it is its reference currency. Thus the title displays a $risk of -0.4, which means that the value of PM in CHF even tends to increase when the dollar falls. This is always good to take when you decide to invest in a currency that is known to be structurally weak.

In the end, PM receives a rating of 3 stars, which represents a good return/risk ratio. The yield is attractive in these times, dividends are showing sustained growth and despite this the company is not squandering all its profits to reward shareholders. In addition, as a wild card, PM is protecting itself against the weakness of its own currency. It is a shame, however, that the stock is so volatile, because this increases the risk of buying at the wrong time, or of being guided by one's emotions during too big increases, or decreases...

Sources: Wikipedia, Wikinvest, Swissquote, Yahoo Finance, dividends.ch