SHAH ALAM, February 26th, 2013 – Carlsberg Malaysia announced a 4th quarter 2012 Group Profit after tax of RM40.8 million, for the three months ended 31st December 2012, an improvement of 7.9 percent over the corresponding quarter in the previous year. Revenue of RM336.5 million for the same quarter was 0.5 percent higher than the quarter in the previous year while earnings per share for the quarter grew to 13.2 sen versus 12.2 sen a year ago.
On a full year’s basis, the Group’s profit after tax of RM193.8 million rose by 15.8 per cent from RM167.4 million in 2011. The Group’s profit after tax in 2011 comprised a one off gain from reversal of over provision of royalty expenses in prior year amounting to RM12.0million. If this was excluded, the Group’s profit after tax would be 24.7 per cent growth against 2011. The Company registered a group revenue of RM1.6 billion which was 6.4 per cent higher than the RM1.5 billion achieved in 2011.
Earnings per share for the year grew to 62.7 sen per share compared to 54.4 sen per share a year ago. The Company announced a single-tier final and special dividend of 58.0 sen per ordinary share of 50 sen each (2011: 51.1 sen (net of tax) per ordinary share of 50 sen each) for the year ended 31st December 2012.
Soren Ravn, Managing Director commented: “We are very pleased with our 2012 Group performance. We achieved double digit growth in earnings and strong single digit growth in revenue. The Group benefitted from the successful 2012 Chinese New Year festive campaign and the well executed UEFA EURO 2012 consumer campaign in Q2. Carlsberg Green Label continues to lead as the most preferred beer brand among consumers in Malaysia according to Millward Brown Beer Tracker
We continued to outperform in the super premium segment through our strong portfolio of international brands. Asahi Super Dry, Kronenbourg 1664 and Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc continue to gain market share supported by through the line activation and distribution expansion. We also launched Somersby Apple Cider, a fully imported premium cider in July to capture new market share. Within a year of its launch, Somersby has become one of the top cider brands with fastest volume growth in both Singapore & Malaysia markets”.
For the 2013 outlook, we are somewhat optimistic that the domestic economy will continue to grow and in this context, the Malaysian beer market is expected to grow moderately”.
