COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Danish brewer Carlsberg on Tuesday reported third-quarter sales broadly in line with expectations but warned that weak consumer sentiment in Europe and Southeast Asia could impact beer markets negatively.
The world’s third-biggest brewer said sales rose 0.3% to 20.3 billion Danish crowns ($2.89 billion) from 20.2 billion a year earlier, slightly below an estimated 20.4 billion in a company poll.
“We delivered solid revenue growth in a challenging environment,” Carlsberg’s new CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen said in a statement.
“The growth was driven by continued strong revenue per hectolitre improvement and outperformance by our premium portfolio,” he said.
Carlsberg reiterated its full-year organic operating profit of 4% to 7% after it hiked its outlook for a second time in August this year.
Carlsberg also on Tuesday launched a new quarterly share buy-back program of 1 billion Danish crowns.
($1 = 7.0362 Danish crowns)
(Reporting by Johannes Birkebaek and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
