Report and Accounts 1999 / 2000 - Carlsberg Group

Report for 1999/2000
11
increase in profit. Competition in the Danish beer
market has intensified further despite the fact that
prices of low-priced beer brands rank among the
lowest in Europe before excise duties and VAT.
In the spring, sales of the Neptun beer were
transferred to the soft drink operation in Saltum,
which then changed its name to Saltum og Neptun
Bryggerierne A/S. Saltum og Neptun Bryggerierne
also acquired the soft drink business Baldur
A/S from Albani and production in Esbjerg was
moved to Saltum.
Carlsberg is a registered supplier and co-founder
of a new company, Dansk Retursystem A/S,
which is a co-operation between the brewing industry
and the retail trade to handle the returnable
packaging system and to make it more efficient.
United Kingdom: Carlsberg-Tetley (UK) recorded
an operating profit of DKK 533 million (DKK 380
million), which is an increase of 15% on last year
when using comparable figures. This development
was achieved despite the declining trend in
turnover. The restructuring of the company and
the intensified focus on Carlsberg-Tetley’s attractive
brands as well as cost savings, particularly on
fixed costs, proceeded satisfactorily.
Finland: Sinebrychoff’s results were highly satisfactory.
Sweden: Falcon Bryggerier AB achieved very
satisfactory results and increased its sales volume
for beer by about 8.5% in the past year. A reorganisation
of the company is scheduled to take
place in the forthcoming year as a result of the
merger with Pripps into Carlsberg Sweden AB.
Russia: The Vena brewery in St. Petersburg
(shareholding 66.7%) recorded unsatisfactory
results, which did however pick up towards the
end of the year.
Lithuania: Developments at the Svyturys brewery
in Lithuania have been very positive. The company
recorded a fairly significant increase in turnover
and consequently in earnings. Today, the brewery
is the market leader in Lithuania.
Germany: The German beer market is characterised
by declining beer consumption and intense
price competition, which has led to an unfavourable
trend in results for the majority of the German
beer industry. This is also the case for Hannen
Brauerei in Mönchengladbach, which again
registered unsatisfactory results despite very high
production efficiency. A restructuring and consolidation
of the German beer industry in the near
future now seems inevitable. Carlsberg will
monitor developments closely and assess the
possibilities of participating.
Italy: Carlsberg’s brewing operations in Italy
achieved positive developments in results. In Italy,
the year was characterised by acquisitions of
companies, which are consolidated in the Group.
This has resulted in an increase in turnover for
Carlsberg Italia S.p.A.
Portugal: The brewing activities in Unicer experienced
a positive trend in results and during the
year Carlsberg increased its shareholding to 44%.
At the same time the company was delisted from
the stock exchange.
GROUP PROFIT 12 months, INVESTMENTS IN
PRODUCTION PLANT, ETC., DEPRECIATION
(DKK MILLION) EARNINGS PER SHARE OF DKK 20
99/00
98/99
97/98
96/97
95/96
99/00
98/99
97/98
96/97
95/96
0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000
Group profit Investments Depreciation
0 5 10 15 20 25 30