Carlsberg Revenue Beats Amid Continued Strength in Asia -- Earnings Review

  By Dominic Chopping 
 

Carlsberg AS (CARL-A.KO) reported a third-quarter trading statement on Thursday. Here's what we watched:

REVENUE FORECAST: The Copenhagen-based brewer posted a forecast-beating 5.3% rise in third-quarter revenue to 18.53 billion Danish kroner ($2.76 billion) from DKK17.59 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected revenue of DKK18.28 billion. It said that solid earnings from Asia and Western Europe more than offset weakness in Russia.

EARNINGS FORECAST: Carlsberg doesn't disclose a third quarter net profit figure.

WHAT WE WATCHED:

GUIDANCE: Carlsberg earlier this week upgraded its full-year guidance for the second time in two months due to solid earnings performance in western Europe and China which it said has more than offset weakness in Russia. It now expects 2019 organic growth in operating profit of around 10% on the year, from previous guidance of high-single-digit percentage growth. This guidance remained unchanged in Thursday's release. However, the brewer did say it now sees a positive currency effect on operating profit this year of around DKK150 million, from a previous estimate of DKK100 million.

BEVERAGE VOLUMES: Overall beverage volumes were flat at 38.5 million hectolitres. In Asia, Carlsberg had particularly strong volume growth in China, Laos, Malaysia/Singapore and Vietnam. In China, volumes grew by 6%. In western Europe, the company had good revenue and volume growth in markets such as Switzerland, Denmark, Poland, Serbia, Greece, Croatia and Bulgaria, whereas volumes declined in markets such as France and the U.K. Volumes in Russia and Ukraine were hit by intensified competition, cool weather and in the case of Russia, tough comparables due to the World Cup last year, it said.

Write to Dominic Chopping at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 31, 2019 07:57 ET (11:57 GMT)

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