Brewing giant Carlsberg on Wednesday said UK beer sales had slipped but the firm was cheered by booming growth in its alcohol-free drinks.
The Danish beer-maker behind the Tuborg and Kronenbourg brands, said volumes in Britain slipped 3% last year. Though its premium beers performed well here, its mainstream Carlsberg brand lost market share.
But, the group still increased total revenues last year to 62.5 billion kroner (£7.4 billion), from 60.7 billion kroner a year earlier and was well above analysts’ forecasts in the final quarter with sales of 13.95 billion kroner, pushing shares up 4% in Copenhagen.
Carlsberg benefited from western Europe’s summer heatwave, and sales of alcohol-free drinks leapt 33% there.
Carlsberg also saw growth in China, where Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc was its bestseller.
But this year it is more cautious on profits, expecting operating profit to rise by a mid-single-digit percentage, compared with last year’s 11% growth.
Chief executive Cees ‘t Hart said Carlsberg was “not directly affected” by Brexit, but added: “A negative development in consumer confidence will hit us.”
The company is proposing a 13% dividend increase and said it would launch a 12-month share buy-back programme of 4.5 billion kroner.
