Carlsberg’s Singapore ops drives Q2 net profit growth

PETALING JAYA: Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd posted a 29.53% growth in net profit for its second quarter ended June 30, 2014 (Q2 FY14) to RM40.04 million from RM30.91 million a year ago driven by the growth in revenue, improved performance in its Singaporean operations and effective cost management.
Revenue for the quarter rose 3.34% to RM356.02 million from RM344.53 million a year ago.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the brewer said its Malaysian operations posted a 6.5% drop in revenue to RM256.3 million due to sluggish consumer sentiments.
"The decline in revenue was mitigated by efficiency improvements, better cost management as well as improved price and product mix. As a result, operating profit declined a marginal 1% to RM35.9 million," it said.
In Singapore, its stock rationalisation programme completed in the first quarter of this year, resulted in a 41.9% growth in revenue to RM99.7 million.
Operating profit improved by RM10.4 million to RM15.3 million compared with a year ago.
For the first six months ended June 30, 2014 (H1 FY14), net profit rose 13.41% to RM92.37 million from RM81.45 million a year ago. However, revenue fell 1.64% to RM801.96 million from RM815.30 million a year ago.
The company declared a single tier interim dividend of 5 sen for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2014 (FY14). The total amount payable is RM15.3 million.
The company expects market conditions to remain challenging this year but is confident of facing the challenges and delivering a satisfactory performance.