World: Carlsberg�s profit to shareholders drops to 6.03 bln Danish kroner last year from 6.57 in 2019

Danish brewer Carlsberg reported on February 5 that its fiscal 2020 profit attributable to shareholders was 6.03 billion Danish kroner, down from 6.57 billion kroner a year ago.

Earnings per share were 41.3 kroner, down from 43.7 kroner last year.

Adjusted attributable net income was 6.36 billion kroner or 43.6 kroner per share, compared to prior year's 6.16 billion kroner or 41 kroner per share a year ago.

EBITDA dropped to 14.09 billion kroner from 15.01 billion kroner last year. EBITDA margin, however, improved to 24.1 percent from 22.8 percent a year ago.

Revenue fell 11.2 percent to 58.54 billion kroner from 65.90 billion kroner a year ago. Organic revenue dropped 8.4 percent.

Organic revenue per hl declined 5 percent.

Beer volume was 110.1 million hl, down from 113 million hl last year. Non-beer volume was 20 million hl, down from 21.9 million hl a year ago. Total organic volume declined 3.8 percent.

Looking ahead for fiscal 2021, the company projects organic growth in operating profit within the range of 3 percent to 10 percent.

The company said, "In most markets, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact business performance, which means a challenging start to 2021. The uncertainty related to the extent and length of the pandemic, further government actions, consumer reactions and macroeconomic developments remains high and may have significant implications for business performance."

Further, the Supervisory Board will propose to the AGM a 5 percent increase in dividend to 22 kroner per share, equal to an adjusted payout ratio of 50 percent.

The company also announced that it will launch a new 750 million kroner share buy-back programme, which will run until April 23.