Half Year 2026 Carlsberg A/S Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Solid top-line and earnings growth with organic operating profit up 5.9% and margin expansion of 30 bps.
- Britvic synergies are being delivered faster than expected, with ~80% of total synergies expected by end of 2026.
- Strong progress on leverage reduction, with net interest-bearing debt to EBITDA down from 3.9x to 3.0x.
- Expanding PepsiCo partnership to new markets (Denmark, Finland, Baltics, Azerbaijan) and new Sapporo JV in Southeast Asia and UK.
- Growth categories (soft drinks, premium beer, alcohol-free brews) delivered strong organic growth, with soft drinks up 9% and AFB up 11%.
- China beer market remains soft, with volumes impacted by severe weather and weak consumer sentiment, leading to a soft Q3 outlook.
- Western Europe beer volumes declined 3.9%, driven by lower mainstream beer volumes in Poland and Germany.
- Operating margin in Central & Eastern Europe and India declined 40 bps due to margin dilution from the Pepsi business in Kazakhstan.
- Adverse currency movements, particularly in China, Poland, and Ukraine, negatively impacted reported revenue and operating profit.
- COGS inflation expected to increase in 2027, with higher spot prices on aluminium and energy, requiring price increases to offset.
Ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to the Carlsberg's H1 2026 Interim Financial Statement. I'm Moritz, the close call operator. I would like to remind you that all participants will be in a listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session. You can register for questions at any time by pressing and 1 on your telephone. For operator assistance, please press and 0. The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast.
At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Jakob Arup-Andersen, CEO. Please go ahead.
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Thank you very much, operator. So good morning, everyone, and welcome to Carlsberg's half-year 2026 conference call.
As said, my name is Jacob Orwanersen, and I have with me our CFO, Ulrike Fern, and Vice President, Investor Relations, Peter Kuntrop.
Before we get into it, let me just
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