More trouble ahead
For some time life was good, profit-wise, for brewers in Malaysia. Carlsberg and Guinness even weathered the storm of the Asian Crisis remarkably well. Now it seems that their luck may be running out. In August, grenades were thrown into the Carlsberg plant causing little damage. Fortunately no one was injured as the grenade attack happened in the middle of the night. Although Carlsberg’s officials played down the significance of the attack by a militant Muslim group, there is no denying that non-Muslim institutions will have to face up to increased pressures arising from Islamic militants who aim at turning Malaysia into an Islamic state.
In the meantime, the government has raised the taxes on alcoholic beverages by 20%. Carlsberg’s pre-tax profit fell 7.6%..
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