Carlsberg’s market share in the UK declined in quarter 3 in a trading situation described as “very volatile”.
The Danish brewer reported growth of 1% in its UK market but said: “The UK market has been very volatile this year, with strong growth in Q2 due to favourable weather and World Cup activations, and a soft Q3. The channel shift from on-trade to off-trade continued. Our market share declined.”
Across Western Europe the company reported an overall sales increase of 1% year-on-year with growth driven by other products, while beer remained flat.
It said: “In the mature Western European markets, our key focus is to improve profitability, cash flow and returns. Our commercial focus is to increase volume and value market share through a continued development of our local power brands, further roll-out of our international premium brands, innovations and premiumisation efforts. This is supported by the deployment of best-in-class commercial tools. At the same time, we focus on reducing costs and capital employed though optimising asset utilisation, further increasing efficiencies across the business and simplifying our business model. An important enabler on this journey is the roll-out of a comprehensive set of standardised business processes and an integrated supply chain(BSP1).”
Globally Carlsberg reported a 2% decline in beer volume in the nine months to September 30, which is blamed on negative Eastern European market development. Organic net revenue was up by 3% to DKK 50.2bn (£5.2bn) with organic gross profit growth of 4%. There was 5% organic operating profit growth with the company highlighting “good performance in Western Europe and Asia”. Operating profit was flat at DKK 7,444m (£785m), negatively affected by a currency impact of DKK 572m (£60m).
Carlsberg said its international premium portfolio delivered strong growth rates: Tuborg (+23%), Somersby (+43%), Kronenbourg 1664 (+10%) and Grimbergen (+30%).
Chief executive Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen said: “The Group managed to deliver organic earnings growth and increased cash flow despite the market challenges in Eastern Europe. Our results underpin the strength of our business model, brands and people as well as our ability and determination to execute on our key strategic priorities which will drive the value of the Group”.
