Malaysia: Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia’s net profit hit by Sri Lankan floods

Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd posted a net profit of RM204.9 mln for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016, a 5% drop from the previous year, as it took a share of loss of RM5.1 mln from associate company Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC (LBCP), The Star Online reported on February 21.

LBCP stopped production for seven months due to floods in Sri Lanka.

Adjusted for that share of loss, the group’s underlying net profit grew 5.1% to RM210 mln (2015: RM199.8 mln after adjusting for share of profit from LBCP), Carlsberg said in a media statement.

The brewer reported a 1.2% increase in revenue to RM1.68 bln for the year. This was mainly driven by higher export sales and a price increase in domestic market last year despite lower sales in subsidiary Carlsberg Singapore Pte Ltd (CSPL), it said.

For the fourth quarter (Q4) ended Dec 31, 2016, net profit fell to RM47.07 mln from RM74.48 mln a year earlier due to lower contribution from its Singapore segment and a RM3.2 mln share of loss arising from the Sri Lankan floods.

In its filing with Bursa Malaysia, Carlsberg explained that Singapore’s operating profits fell by RM13.1 mln or 34.5% due to lower export sales and higher sales and marketing expenses in Q4, as well as a one-off gain from brand incentive received in the same quarter last year.

Nonetheless, Malaysia operations’ total revenue and operating profits improved in Q4 by 5.6% and 12.9% respectively compared with the same period in 2015.

The better revenue was thanks to higher export sales and a price increase in response to duty increase in March 2016, while operating profits rose by RM7 mln due to the higher revenue and more efficient spending on sales and marketing, it said.

The board of directors proposes a final and special dividend of 67 sen per share to be paid on May 19, the same as the final and special dividend given for financial year 2015.

Combined with an interim dividend of 5 sen per share paid on Oct 7, 2016, total declared and proposed dividends for the 12 months ended Dec 31, 2016, amounted to 72 sen per share.

“This maintains the dividend payment for 2015 and represents 104% of 2016 profit after tax,” the brewer said in its media statement.

Carlsberg Malaysia managing director Lars Lehmann noted that 2016 was a difficult year for the group.

“Our results were severely impacted by the floods in Sri Lanka and the decline of our strong beer after the excise duties increase in Malaysia. As well as lower sales in CSPL and a one-off gain from brand incentive received last year,” he said.

“On the positive front, we are proud of the strong growth of Carlsberg Smooth Draught as well as our premium brands Somersby cider, Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc, Asahi Super Dry and Connor’s Stout Porter.

“Against the challenging conditions, we are pleased to achieve a modest organic growth for the group and continue to deliver shareholder returns with a total declared and proposed dividend payment of 72 sen per ordinary share for year 2016.”

Giving its prospects for the new year, Carlsberg said in the Bursa report that the 2017 market conditions were expected to remain challenging.

“Nevertheless, the group is confident to meet the challenges and deliver satisfactory performance,” the company added.

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