By Dominic Chopping
Carlsberg AS on Thursday posted a forecast-beating rise in first-quarter revenue after seeing strong growth in most markets.
The Copenhagen-based brewer said it achieved strong growth in western Europe, while Asia had a good start to the year.
Volumes were slightly down in central and eastern Europe, but excluding Ukraine, the company delivered good volume growth, it said.
The Copenhagen-based brewer generated revenue of 14.94 billion Danish kroner ($2.13 billion) for the quarter, against DKK14.26 billion expected in a FactSet poll and compared with DKK11.8 billion in a year earlier.
First-quarter volumes rose to 27.9 million hectoliters from 25.7 million a year earlier, missing a FactSet forecast of 31.4 million hectoliters.
Carlsberg has previously said it will completely exit Russia, a business that represented around 10% of group sales, while its three breweries in Ukraine are currently closed.
“Looking at business performance, the first quarter saw only limited impact from the war,” said Chief Executive Cees ‘t Hart.
The company said that it will on Thursday launch its second quarterly share buyback program, amounting to DKK1 billion.
Carlsberg reiterated guidance provided last week, but now assumes a positive currency effect of around DKK350 million for 2022, from DKK400 million previously.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com
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