Carlsberg 'satisfied' with solid 2024, but growth to slow this year

(Sharecast News) - Danish brewing titan Carlsberg on Thursday posted annual profit growth at the top end of guidance, with the stock rising strongly as investors shrugged off forecasts for a slight slowdown this year. The company, which also makes beers such as Kronenbourgh, Brooklyn and Hobgoblin as well as its namesake brand, said organic operating profits grew 6.0% in 2024 to DKK11.41bn, on the back of higher revenues and margin improvements.

Reported revenues was up 1.9% year-on-year at DKK75.01bn, with organic revenue growth coming in at 2.4%.

Chief executive Jacob Aarup-Anderson said he was "satisfied" with the results given the challenging environment in some of Carlsberg's major markets, which held back volumes.

"2024 was a year of major events that will shape the future of Carlsberg. The launch and implementation of our refreshed strategy, Accelerate SAIL, with its well-defined growth levers, the acquisition of Britvic, the buyout of our partner in India and Nepal and the expanded partnership with PepsiCo in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were important milestones that will enable us to deliver long-term sustainable growth and value creation," he said.

Looking ahead, the company pointed to a "relatively stable consumer environment", but warned that uncertainty related to consumer confidence remains in both Asia and Europe.

For the business excluding Britvic, Carlsberg expects a "moderate" increase in costs due to higher marketing spend and operational investments, while organic volume growth will be dented by the loss of the San Miguel brand licence at the year-end to AB InBev.

As a result, organic operating profits are expected to grow by just 1-5% this year.

By 1237 in Copenhagen, the stock was up 6.8% at DKK783.20.