Carlsberg reports UK beer volume down 6%

The company said brand visibility of Carlsberg was boosted by the return of the “if Carlsberg did…Q” campaign and that the Somersby portfolio was boosted by the international flavour variants added at the beginning of the year.

The Western European beer market overall fell an estimated 1% to 2% across H1. Globally group beer volumes declined organically by 5%.

The company reported net revenue of DKK 32.4bn globally with flat organic development.

Chief executive Cees ‘t Hart said: “The first half of 2015 has been challenging for the Group with weaker than expected results in Western Europe and market decline in Eastern Europe. In Western Europe, we experienced bad weather in Q2 in Northern Europe and did not achieve the full range of anticipated savings.

"For the full year, we therefore do not expect that the strong Asian performance will be enough to offset the weaker than expected results in Western Europe and the challenging market conditions in Eastern Europe. Needless to say, we have a heightened sense of urgency to execute the efficiency improvement initiatives we started at the beginning of the year.

“Joining Carlsberg in mid-June, I’m in the process of getting to know the Group’s opportunities and challenges. While I’m delighted with the enthusiasm and commitment of our employees, I also recognise that we must step up further to achieve the full potential of the Group. To do so, we have initiated a process of revising the Group’s strategy to re-establish and further strengthen our financial flexibility. The results of this process will be announced in the first half of 2016.”