Carlsberg calls 2016 a “good year”

Although Danish brewer Carlsberg on 8 February 2017 reported its third year in a row of falling profits, executives called 2016 a good year for Carlsberg.

Net revenue was DKK 62.6 billion/USD 8.9 billion (2015: DKK 65.3 billion), EBITDA stood at DKK 13.0 billion/USD 1.9 billion (2015: DKK 13.2 billion) and EBIT at DKK 8.2 billion/USD 1.2 billion (2015: DKK 8.5 billion).

In 2016, Carlsberg did not leave any stones unturned. It reduced its headcount by 2,280 people globally, changed most of its regional and country leadership and closed or sold 17 breweries in China. Not enough, several now called non-core assets were disposed of, such as the Danish Malting Group, the unit in Malawi and, at the beginning of this year, the subsidiaries in Romania and Uzbekistan.

In Western Europe, Carlsberg saw both beer sales and revenue decline as it lost market shares in Poland and Finland. In France it registered a one percent volume growth in a market which grew by three percent.

In Eastern Europe, both revenue and operating profit dropped as beer sales remained flat.

In Asia, beer sales and revenue went down slightly while operating profit stagnated.

Nevertheless, Carlsberg managed to boast of a five percent growth in group EBITDA, but only “organically”.

For 2017, Carlsberg forecasts a five percent – organic – growth in EBITDA and further reduction of its debts.