Carlsberg profit slightly down despite higher revenue

PETALING JAYA: Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd’s net profit dropped 1.7% to RM42.85mil in the third quarter ended Sept 30 against a 7.7% rise in revenue to RM423.51mil on higher sales volumes offset by trade offer adjustments in Singapore.

This translated to an earnings per share of 14 sen from 14.26 sen a year ago.

For the nine months year-to-date, Carlsberg’s net profit rose 8.4% to RM171.16mil from RM157.91mil a year ago. Revenue was also up 7.5% to RM1.33bil from RM1.24bil previously.

The RM4.66bil market value company told Bursa Malaysia that its profit from operations declined by 8.6% to RM56mil due to trade offer adjustments, but this was mitigated by a strong performance in the Malaysian operations.

Total external revenue from Malaysia was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year, driven by higher sales of flagship brands – Carlsberg Green Label and Carlsberg Smooth Draught.

“Premium brands such as Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc, Somersby Cider and Connor’s Stout Porter continued to deliver double-digit growth in sales,” Carlsberg noted.

Meanwhile, the group said profit from operations rose by RM16.7mil or 47.9% during the quarter on a better product mix and effective cost management.

Revenue from Singapore was down 8.9% while profit from operations decreased by RM12.1mil or 83.5% compared with the same period a year ago, due to the trade offer adjustments mentioned earlier.

Associate company in Sri Lanka, Lion Brewery (Ceylon) Plc (LBCP), posted a share of profit of RM600,000 during the quarter compared to a share of loss of RM1.7mil in the same quarter a year ago.

This, according to Carlsberg, was due to the floods in May 2016.

LBCP’s profit improved by RM2.3mil, driven by a recovery in its operational performance.

Carlsberg shares closed up 36 sen or 2.43% to RM15.16, with 113,100 shares being traded.