Carlsberg does not expect consumer environment to improve in the back half but has nonetheless lifted the lower end of its full-year sales growth guidance.
In a statement alongside the Danish brewing giant’s first half and second-quarter results yesterday (14 August), CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen said: “We don’t expect the consumer environment to improve over the remainder of the year.
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“Nevertheless, we’re continuing our long-term investments in key brands and capabilities, including in areas such as digital, marketing and value management, to create an even stronger Carlsberg.”
For the half year period ended 30 June 2025, the 1664 Blanc maker saw reported revenue grow 18.2% to Dkr45.9bn ($7.1bn), which the company attributed to the acquisition of Britvic.
On an organic basis, revenue declined 0.3%, driven by the company’s loss of its UK production, distribution and marketing license for San Miguel to Budweiser in July.
Operating profit was up 15.1% on a reported basis and grew 2.3% in organic terms, to Dkr7.2bn.
Total volumes decreased 16% on a reported basis but declined 1.7% organically to 76.3 million hectolitres.
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By GlobalDataIn its second quarter, the business saw total organic revenue rise 0.6% to Dkr25.73bn, excluding the impact from San Miguel.
Total organic volumes of both the beer and other beverages segments grew 0.2% in the three months, again excluding San Miguel, to 42.9 million hectolitres.
In spite of the negative outlook for the remainder of the year, Carlsberg confirmed its intention to narrow its earning guidance for 2025.
The business now expects to see 3% to 5% growth in organic operating profit, compared to a prior 1% to 5% forecast.
“Being able to narrow our earnings guidance towards the upper end of the range in a difficult trading environment reflects our relentless focus on commercial execution, as well as continued strong performance management and cost discipline”, Aarup-Andersen added.
In terms of markets, in its first-half Carlsberg saw volumes in Western Europe dip 1.7% organically but rise 44.8% on a reported basis to 30.8 million hectolitres. Revenue in the region was up 34.9% on a reported basis and down 0.8% organically at Dkr25.45bn.
The company’s Asia market saw total volumes decline 2.8% in the period on an organic basis and reported basis to 25 million hectolitres.
Revenue in the region slipped 1.9% organically and 4.1% on a reported basis to Dkr11.2bn.
In Asia in particular, the company saw an impact on beer volumes, which dropped 1.7% organically to 22 million hectolitres, driven by soft volumes in Cambodia and Laos. The group’s ‘other beverages’ segment saw a 10.4% organic decline to 3 million hectolitres due to an impact on energy drinks in Cambodia.
Carlsberg also said it faced “weak consumer sentiment” in China for its mainstream beer portfolio as well as “intensified competitive activities” in Vietnam, which had a negative effect on volumes in the country.
Speaking to reporters yesterday on how volumes might look in the second half of the company’s fiscal year, Aarup-Andersen said the business didn’t anticipate seeing “any significant change versus the first half”, but noted that it did “assume a slightly better volume development in the second half”.
He added: “If you look across the three regions, we’ve had a good start to Q3 in Western Europe, in Asia… but even around China, of course, it’s a major factor, and we don’t see a step change in China, but we do expect that Vietnam will be less bad in the second half than in the first half, and we also expect Laos to improve.”
