Denmark: Carlsberg planning cost cuts at headquarters in Denmark

Carlsberg, the maker of Tuborg beer, plans cost cuts at its headquarters in Denmark as a drop in demand in Eastern Europe weighs on earnings.

The Danish brewer is starting an initiative including job cuts that targets “large” savings, Danish paper Jyllands-Posten reported on May 18, without saying how it obtained the information.

Spokesman Jim Daniell confirmed the company is reducing costs at its main office and informing staff this week about organizational changes.

“This is just the headquarters and there are some announcements being made to people today,” he said by phone, declining to give further detail.

Carlsberg has been struggling with political instability and economic turmoil in Russia, where it is the biggest brewer. The brewer last week reported that the operating loss from its eastern European business widened in the first quarter, though total profit for the quarter beat estimates due to a better-than-anticipated performance in Western Europe. The company said in January it would close two of 10 breweries in Russia.

“We are starting to roll out major internal initiatives that will make the group even more efficient, agile and responsive and contribute to improved profits and returns,” Chief Executive Officer Joergen Buhl Rasmussen said in the results statement May 12. Rasmussen is due to hand the reins to the brewer’s first non-Danish CEO, Cees ’t Hart, next month.

Carlsberg employed an average of 46,832 people last year, of which 31 percent were in Western Europe, according to its annual report.

20 May, 2015