Carlsberg warns on profit as Russia and Western Europe sales drag
Carlsberg, the giant Danish brewer, has issued a shock profits warning, blaming cold weather in northern Europe and plummeting sales in Russia, which sent its shares tumbling more than 8%.
The group’s new chief executive Cees ‘t Hart said the brewer had not achieved the cost savings it had planned and he has started a review to try to strengthen its finances.
Carlsberg is likely to see a slight decline in operating profits for the full year against previous forecasts of mid-to-high single-digit growth.
“For the full year, we do not expect that the strong Asian performance will be enough to offset the weaker-than-expected results in western Europe and the challenging market conditions in eastern Europe,” said Hart.
Carlsberg is the biggest brewer in Russia following its takeover of Scottish & Newcastle.
The market there dropped 9% in the last quarter with further damage from the rouble.
Operating profits fell 19% in the second quarter.
