Carlsberg revenue climbs in first half despite dip in second quarter | Progresiv
Carlsberg has seen its group revenue fall 0.9% in the second quarter but is still 2% stronger across the whole of the first half of the year, thanks to a particularly strong opening three months. 
Revenue in the second quarter was 2.85 billion dollars, down from 2.87 billion dollars in the same quarter last year.
But revenue of 5 billion dollars for the whole of the first half is 2% higher than 2016, with a strong first quarter more than offsetting the nominal decline this period. The Danish brewer had reported revenue of 2.16 billion dollars – up more than 5% – in the first three months of the year.
It also reported significantly improved margins, with profit before tax of 612 million dollars in the first half.
Commenting on the results, CEO Cees ’t Hart says: “We delivered a strong set of results for the first half-year, improving earnings and cash flow and reducing leverage. The results show that we’re well on track to deliver on our key priorities for this year: achieving a substantial proportion of the remaining Funding the Journey benefits, enabling investments in SAIL’22-related activities to grow the top-line in the future.
For the first six months, total volume was down on last year by 3.7% – from 70 million hectolitres to 67.4 million hectolitres – while beer volume fell 4% from 59.1 million hectolitres to 56.7 million hectolitres.
In the second quarter, total volume was 38.5 million hectolitres – a drop of 5.4% – while beer volume was down a similar amount to 32.5 million hectolitres. (www.foodbev.com)
