Carlsberg A/S has reported a 9% jump in first-quarter sales, with the Danish brewer maintaining its full-year guidance for 2019.
Sales came in at 13.89 billion Danish crowns (€1.87 billion) for the first quarter ended March, according to a company statement, above the 13.56 billion Danish crowns forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.
The company, which did not disclose earnings figures, said it still expected operating profit to grow by a mid-single-digit percentage in 2019, well below last year's 11%
Volume Growth
"We had a good start to the year, with particularly strong volume growth in Asia and continued solid progress of our craft and speciality and alcohol-free portfolios," Chief Executive Cees 't Hart said in the statement.
Carlsberg has taken major cost-cutting measures since Hart took over in 2015, intended to help redress a decade of weakness in its key market Russia. Last year, it returned to sales growth for the first time in three years.
The brewer said its price mix, which indicates if the company sold more of its expensive beers, was positive across all regions, particularly in Eastern Europe.
The brewer lost market share in Russia, where it owns the Baltika brand, as it increased prices at the end of last year and in the first three months of 2019 in an effort to increase profitability.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
