The Board of Directors of Philip Morris ČR a.s. in an effort to protect the health of its shareholders, employees and other associates, and also with respect to the fact that any further development of the COVID-19 pandemic and taken measures cannot be predicted with certainty, has decided to hold, instead of the General Meeting in Kutná Hora, shareholders‘ votes on the individual points of the General Meeting per rollam i.e. remotely by ballot.

The decisive day for participation in the voting and the decisive day for the payment of the dividends is April 8, 2021. This means that shareholders holding the company’s shares as of April 8, 2021 will be entitled to vote and to receive the dividends.

The Board of Directors of Philip Morris ČR a.s. will send to shareholders all voting instructions, motions for resolutions as well as ballot papers by post on April 15, 2021. Voting by ballot papers will take place from April 15, 2021 to May 21, 2021.

Preliminary results of shareholders‘ voting will be published on April 30, 2021 and final voting results will be published on May 28, 2021.

Proposal for a profit distribution

The Board of Directors of Philip Morris ČR a.s. proposes the payment of a gross dividend of CZK 1, 260 CZK. The dividend has been reviewed and approved by the Supervisory Board and will be submitted for approval to shareholders.

Key business and financial data for 2020

“In the course of the last, as well as of this year, during the pandemic of COVID-19, our top priority remains ensuring the health and safety of our employees, their families, customers and business partners. I am glad that we did not have to interrupt the production in our factory in Kutná Hora and that we were able to ensure employment stability and even create new employment opportunities. I am also grateful for our employee’s efforts as the company continued to support local communities in this difficult period, in which either our employees live or in which we conduct our business. Despite of a temporary decrease of profit, caused primarily by government-imposed measures and a closure of the state borders, I am pleased that we continue to stay firmly on the clearly set course towards fulfilling our vision of the smoke-free future and that the main aspects of our business continue to be strong,“ says Andrea Gontkovičová, Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of Philip Morris ČR a.s., an affiliate of Philip Morris International Inc., responsible for the business in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

• The total number of adult IQOS users in the Czech Republic and Slovakia increased by 177, 000 compared to 2019, reaching 629, 000 (417, 000 in Czech Republic and 212, 000 in Slovakia) from which 430, 000 (284, 000 in the Czech Republic and 146, 000 in Slovakia) adult age smokers have switched to IQOS and stopped smoking.
• Consolidated revenues, net of excise tax and VAT increased by 4.6% to CZK 17.9 billion, or by 3.8% excluding the effect of the exchange rate.
• Consolidated net income decreased by 12.3% to CZK 3.5 billion.
• Total combined sales of cigarettes and heated tobacco units in the Czech Republic has decreased by an estimate of 10.9%, and by an estimate of 0.7% in Slovakia.
• Total shipments of HEETS increased by 0.5 billion units in the Czech Republic and by 0.2 billion units in Slovakia.
• Total shipments of tobacco products for smoking decreased by 1.2 billion units in the Czech Republic and by 0.2 billion units in Slovakia.

Key messages

Philip Morris ČR a.s. has launched our first e-liquid product on the Czech market in December 2020. “We listen to our consumers very carefully and know that no single smoke-free product will satisfy preferences of all adult smokers. I am therefore very pleased that last year the Czech Republic became the very first European market, where we were able to expand the family of our science-based smoke-free alternatives by launching IQOS VEEV, our most advanced e-vapor product to-date. I am sure that the IQOS brand, which has successfully gained trust of hundreds of thousands of users in our country over the past three years can now reach an even wider range of adult smokers. We are committed to continue with our efforts of introducing further innovative smoke-free solutions in Czechia and Slovakia this year,” adds Andrea Gontkovičová.

The Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of Philip Morris ČR a.s., also emphasized as a key milestone of the past year that in July 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the marketing of IQOS, our most advanced heated tobacco product, as a modified risk tobacco product (MRTP). This was based on the scientific evidence that demonstrates that switching completely from conventional cigarettes to IQOS significantly reduces your body’s exposure to harmful or potentially harmful chemicals.

 

Source: Benes Consulting Group s.r.o.

Prague, March 31. 2021