Danish beer maker Carlsberg posts more than threefold rise in Q4 profit, helped by lower costs

Carlsberg Q4 profits more than triple

COPENHAGEN — Danish brewer Carlsberg A/S on Tuesday reported a more than threefold rise in fourth quarter net profit, to 383 million kroner ($70 million), thanks mainly to reduced costs.

The result compared with a profit of 111 million kroner in the same three months a year earlier.

The beer maker said revenues for the October-December period fell around 6 percent to 13.6 billion kroner.

For the full year 2009, net profit reached 3.6 billion kroner, compared with 2.6 billion kroner in 2008. The brewer said the year had been a challenging one for the industry as a whole, with the global economic downturn affecting consumer choices and reducing volumes. Despite this, Carlsberg said consumers mostly remained loyal to their favorite brands, which would help the company in the coming year.

In its outlook for 2010, Carlsberg said it expects its operating profit to be in line with that of 2009. It also said it expects a net profit growth of more than 20 percent based on the expected operating profit.

Carlsberg CEO Joergen Buhl Rasmussen said a focus on improving its cash flow and protecting the company’s earnings helped Carlsberg as it entered 2009. The “result demonstrates that we have been successful in our efforts to meet these goals.”

For this year, he said his company will prioritize profitable market share growth by more brand initiatives and by keeping its focus on efficiency improvements.

“While we expect consumer dynamics to be challenging in 2010, we also see many opportunities to strengthen our position in key markets,” he said.

Carlsberg shares rose 4.8 percent to 402.5 kroner ($73.57), on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange.