Positive results for Carlsberg with revenues beating expectation

Carlsberg, the world's fourth-largest brewer, reported sales that beat estimates on a rebound in eastern Europe.

First-quarter net revenue rose 2 per cent on an adjusted basis to 13 billion kroner ($2 billion), the Copenhagen-based company said in a statement on Wednesday.

The median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for 1.3 per cent growth.

“We delivered a solid start to the year,” chief executive Cees’t Hart said in a statement.

The brewer saw a rebound in volume in Russia, where it's the market leader, after reducing inventory held by distributors.

Beer revenue in eastern Europe grew by 20 per cent, double what analysts estimated.

Carlsberg has forecast higher profit this year on rising sales in Asia, where it battles Heineken in countries such as Vietnam and Myanmar.

The stronger performance may be a sign of things to come under the new CEO, Eamonn Ferry, an analyst said.

Beer sales in western Europe, which accounts for two-thirds of the company's revenue, declined by 3 per cent after retailers including British supermarket chain Tesco delisted Carlsberg products.

Twelve out of 15 divisions are spending less than their target budget, the company said.

It also expects a negative foreign-exchange impact of 550 million kroner this year related to Asian and western European currencies to a previous expectation of 600 million kroner.

The company will pay executives a bonus worth 120 per cent of their base salaries if $350 million in cost savings is achieved by 2018, ‘t Hart said in an interview last month.

It has also pledged to pay more earnings in the form of dividends.

- Bloomberg