Carlsberg Group released financial statement as at 31 December 2013

Copenhagen, Denmark, 19-2-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — Strong operational performance and underlying earnings growth while investing for the coming years

Unless otherwise stated, comments in this announcement refer to full-year performance.

Financial highlights

• Organic net revenue growth of 1% to DKK 66.6bn (Q4: +2%).
• Continued solid price/mix of +2% (Q4: +4%).
• 11% organic operating profit growth (adjusted for BSP1-related costs and stocking movements in France). Reported operating profit of DKK 9,844m (Q4: DKK 2,322m).
• 5% adjusted net profit growth to DKK 5,795m (Q4: +8%).
• Free operating cash flow of DKK 3.0bn and free cash flow of DKK 200m, impacted by acquisitions in Asia.
• For 2013, Carlsberg A/S proposes a 33% increase in dividend per share to DKK 8.00.
• For 2014, the Group expects to deliver high-single-digit organic operating profit growth (based on restated figures ) and mid-single-digit growth in reported adjusted net result.

Operational highlights

• The Group delivered strong performance and achieved market share growth in all three regions driven by focused commercial execution and a number of successful innovations.
• Our Asian markets continued to grow while our Western European markets declined by an estimated 2%. The Russian market declined by an estimated 8% due to outlet restrictions and slower economic growth.
• Group beer volumes declined organically by 2% (Q4: -3%).
• Our international premium portfolio continued to grow, with particularly strong performances by Tuborg (+10%) and Somersby (+78%). Tuborg is the fastest growing international premium beer brand in China and the largest premium brand in India. The Carlsberg brand grew 7% in Q4 in premium markets (declined 2% for the full year, cycling last year’s EURO 2012 activations).
• We kept a high level of investments across markets and functions to capture the short- and longer-term earnings growth opportunities.
• The implementation of the supply chain integration and business standardisation project (BSP1) is running according to schedule and with no major disruptions.
• We took several steps to strengthen our presence in Asia, including increased ownership of Chongqing Brewery and construction of breweries in Myanmar and China.
• We established the Carlsberg Circular Community, joining forces with key partners in order to rethink and redevelop packaging with the aim of reducing the impact on the environment.

Commenting on the results, CEO Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen says: “The Carlsberg Group delivered solid earnings growth driven by strong and focused execution in spite of an overall challenging macro- environment and not least the negative market impact in Russia from the outlet restrictions. This shows our ability to constantly execute and innovate effectively while maintaining tight control of our costs.

In the coming years we will continue to invest in growth and efficiency opportunities. We have a busy agenda of driving our ambitious commercial priorities, which include continued investment in our brands and ensuring that our sales and marketing capabilities are best-in-class. Furthermore, we will focus on further strengthening our Russian business; develop our Asian business to capture the growth potential of the region; and change our Western Europe business model and organisation, including the continued roll-out of BSP1.”

Download the full announcement.

Contacts:

Investor Relations:
Peter Kondrup +45 3327 1221
Iben Steiness +45 3327 1232

Media Relations:
Ben Morton +45 3327 1417
Jens Bekke +45 3327 1412