Marlboro boss defends shift in business model

LAURA MCGUIRE

THE BOSS of cigarette company Philip Morris International (PMI), Jacek Olczak, has said he thinks he can “come up with an even better business”, as the Marlboro-maker steams ahead with plans to sell more smoke-free products.

“We need to do something. I think we can come up with an even better business,” Olczak told The Sunday Times in reference to his decision to steer the company away from cigarettes. In 2021, the firm acquired pharmaceutical giant Vectura, which makes asthmatic inhalers, for £1bn. However, the group’s health and wellbeing arm has faced challenges over the last year, with Philip Morris booking a $680m (£529m) impairment charge due to unsuccessful clinical trial results for its inhalable aspirin. The hit means PMI is no longer on track for the $1bn revenue it thought it would achieve by 2025.

Olczak defended the tobacco firm’s diversification into health products.

“The combustible business actually provides the resources for the smoke-free business. When we were acquiring Vectura, people were telling us it was unethical because we will now make money on the drugs when we are selling the cigarettes,” Olczak told The Times.

“If they continue that sort of narrative, I don’t do Vectura and I don’t invest beyond tobacco. If we go backwards into that thinking, the only thing this company will continue doing is selling cigarettes. So there is no logic in this.”