Carlsberg Q2 profit misses estimates

Carlsberg has reported second-quarter profits that missed estimates as unseasonably wet weather stunted sales in Europe and the company increased advertising spending.

Earnings before interest, tax and some one-time items fell 6.1% to 3.47 billion kroner (€455m), the Copenhagen-based brewing company said.

That missed the 3.9 billion kroner average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

“The results are disappointing, and Carlsberg is only able to keep its guidance unchanged because of better-than-expected foreign exchange,” Eddy Hargreaves, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity Ltd in London wrote.

Brewers have suffered as rain across Europe and weakening consumption drag on beer volume growth.

Larger competitor Anheuser-Busch InBev said in July that its western European sales were hindered by wet weather, and SABMiller had “depressed” volume across western Europe even as the effects of the Euro 2012 soccer tournament boosted sales in central and eastern European countries.

Second-quarter revenue rose 4.5% to 19.59 billion kroner. Excluding currency shifts and acquisitions, sales rose 2% as the brewer raised prices.

Carlsberg owns Baltika, Russia’s leading brewer, where the beer market grew 3% in the second quarter.

The company faces the threat of stricter alcohol regulation in Russia, including a potential ban on plastic bottles.

The government has set a Sep 17 deadline for a decision on the matter, according to David Belaunde, an analyst at Morgan Stanley in London. Carlsberg increased its share of that market to 37.3%.

Chief executive Joergen Buhl Rasmussen said yesterday he expects the Russian beer market to be “flattish” this year, and that it is too early to comment on the effect of the Russian marketing restrictions.

The brewer got 39% of profit from its eastern Europe unit last year, and 49% from northern and western Europe.

The beer markets in northern and western Europe slid 3% to 4%,excluding Poland, in the first half of the year, more than the company had expected due to wet weather and “challenging consumer dynamics” in some countries, Carlsberg said. Poland’s beer market grew 6% as consumers drank more beer during the soccer Euro 2012 tournament, held in that country.

— Bloomberg