Danish brewer Carlsberg made a lot more profit in the first half of the year. The brewer mainly earned more money with his specialty beers. The good performance of the brewer is not unexpected. Carlsberg recently increased its forecasts for the whole year.
Carlsberg saw net profit rise by a quarter to 3.1 billion Danish Krone (416 million euros). In addition to specialty beers, where sales increased by 17 percent, the company also performed well with non-alcoholic beers. Carlsberg also did good business in Asia. All in all, sales increased by 6.5 percent. To reward shareholders, the brewer announced to start the second part of a share buyback program of a maximum of 2 billion kronor.
Carlsberg is counting on operating profit growth of 7 to 9 percent for the entire year. According to the Dutch CEO Cees’ t Hart, Carlsberg’s attention is focused on increasing sales, where the company has been cutting costs for years. Beer brands such as Grimbergen and Jacobsen must also boost sales.