Carlsberg to hike beer prices to offset higher costs

Danish brewer Carlsberg warned Friday that it will raise beer prices this year to offset rising costs of ingredients after posting a net profit exceeding pre-pandemic levels in 2021.

The world's fourth biggest beer producer acknowledged that the higher prices could have a "negative impact" on consumption.

"The significantly higher input costs and continued impact from Covid-19 will pose challenges in 2022, but we're well prepared," chief executive Cees 't Hart said in a statement.

Prices of raw materials for a slew of industries have risen across the world as supply struggled to keep up with demand as economies recovered from the pandemic last year.

In 2021, Carlsberg's net profit attributable to shareholders rose by 13 per cent to 6.8 billion kroner (£770 million), even though bars and restaurants closed on a number of its markets, performing better in 2019 and 2020.

Sales increased by 14 percent to 66.6 billion kroner while the number of drinks sold rose by eight percent despite a seven percent decline in western Europe.

"We're very satisfied with the Group's 2021 performance. Although our business was significantly impacted by Covid-19, we delivered strong top- and bottom-line growth and free cash flow," Hart said.

For 2022, Carlsberg forecast a limited increase in operating profit of between zero and seven percent because of rising costs and the continuing effects of the coronavirus pandemic.