Carlsberg FY16 results hit by Sri Lanka floods

PETALING JAYA: Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 fell 36.81% to RM47.07 million from RM74.48 million a year ago due to losses caused by floods in Sri Lanka.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the company said it recorded a share of loss of RM3.2 million due to the disruptions in an associate company, Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC, which was out of production for seven months, compared with RM5.3 million share of profit recorded a year ago.
Profit from operations fell 6.8% to RM85.5 million due to lower contribution from Singapore, offset by higher contribution from Malaysian operations. Net profit was further impacted by one-off tax adjustments relating to prior periods and a higher deferred tax expense.
Revenue for the quarter rose 2.87% to RM434.64 million from RM422.51 million a year ago mainly due to higher export volume and a price increase in 2016 in Malaysia, offset by lower sales in Singapore.
Revenue from Malaysian operations rose 5.6% year-on-year due to higher export sales and a price increase in response to higher duty in March 2016 while revenue from Singapore operations fell 1.8% due to lower export sales.
For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016, net profit fell 5.06% to RM204.98 million from RM215.91 million a year ago while revenue rose 1.18% to RM1.68 billion from RM1.66 billion a year ago.
“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 Carlsberg Singapore Pte Ltd and a one-off gain from brand incentive received last year,” managing director Lars Lehmann said in a statement yesterday.
Carlsberg Malaysia has proposed a final and special single-tier dividend of 67 sen per share to be paid on May 19, 2017, subject to shareholders’ approval, which brings the total dividends for FY16 to 72 sen per share.
The company expects market conditions to remain challenging this year but is confident of meeting the challenges and delivering satisfactory performance.
“We are reinvesting savings from our ‘Fund the Journey’ programme behind our great brand portfolios and consumer engagement activities to address the soft consumer sentiment and to deliver long-term shareholder value,” said Lehmann.