Carlsberg mulls price hikes

KUALA LUMPUR: Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd, faced with costlier
raw materials like malt and aluminium packaging, is mulling price hikes
in its beer range as early as the next quarter.

"The rising
input cost of products particularly malt - the key ingredient in brewing
beer - is 20 per cent higher this year. Last year, the cost of
aluminium cans had also increased 27 per cent from 2010 while
electricity and natural gas tariffs also went up in mid-2011," said
Carlsberg managing director Soren Ravn.

Back in April 2011,
Carlsberg raised it beer prices by three per cent. Asked if there'll
soon be another round of price hikes in its beer range, he replied,
"we'll look at it at the right time ... probably at the end of this
quarter."

Ravn was updating reporters on the beer market outlook here yesterday.





Carlsberg Malaysia has in the past five years moved from being a
single-brand company to one distributing a portfolio of labels. It now
wants to sell more premium beer to widen its profit margin instead of
being dragged into price wars with its competitors.

"Four years
ago, we had less than five per cent market share in the premium beer
segment. We are looking at about 20 per cent market share by year-end,"
he said, adding its premium brands, Hoegaarden and Kronenbourg, are
selling well.

"Our newly-launched premium brands - Kronenbourg
1664, Kronenbourg Blanc and Asahi Super Dry - will now be produced at
our Shah Alam brewery. This move will save on the RM5 per litre import
duties."

Apart from the Carlsberg staple label, the group
distributes Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois, Becks, Forsters, Erdinger,
Franziskaner, Tatley's Ale, Danish Royal Stout, Connors Stout, Skol,
Jolly Shandy and NutriMalt.

"Going forward, we're positive on the
outlook," he said, citing the UEFA Euro 2012 championship, to be held
in June, as a growth catalyst.

Carlsberg has been sponsoring the Euro championship for almost 25 years. By Ooi Tee Ching