Carlsberg’s net profit nearly halved
What’s the Danish for ‘Damn it. Last year did not go well for us.’ That must have been on many Danish executives’ lips when Carlsberg posted a net profit for 2004 of DKK 477 million (EUR 64 million), nearly half that of 2003 at DKK 956 million."EBITDA fell to DKK 3.4 billion from DKK 3.6 billion in 2003. Net sales increased 4 percent to DKK 36 billion largely due to increased sales in Russia and Poland. However, in Sweden the situation was more than grim so that Carlsberg will now have to cut 200 jobs as a cost saving measure." The company blamed the unfavourable dollar exchange rate and the introduction of a ban on smoking in pubs in several European countries for the disappointing sales. Nevertheless, Carlsberg is still predicting a 15 percent rise in net profits for 2005.
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