Carlsberg Malaysia’s managing director Stefano Clini said: “Our Q1 results were impacted by the timing of CNY (Chinese New Year), with a shorter sales period within the quarter and lower consumer consumption due to increasing concerns on the elevated cost of living.”

He added that consumer spending had shifted from domestic consumption to international travel as the latter has become more accessible and beer consumption has normalised this year.

The group’s revenue grew marginally by 1% to RM660.2 million in the quarter from RM653.85 million last year.

The Malaysian unit saw a revenue growth of 3.3% to RM469.3 million whereas the Singaporean unit saw revenue fall by 4.4% to RM190.9 million.

Despite the higher revenue, profit from operations declined 4.2% to RM109.01 million from RM113.79 million, with higher marketing spend.

The group’s earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter was 27.81 sen compared to 29.96 sen in Q1 FY2022.

Its Sri Lankan associate company Lion Brewery (Ceylon) PLC also saw a lower share of profit in Q1 FY2023 mainly due to the sharp devaluation in the Sri Lankan rupee against the ringgit since March 2022 due to the economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

Going forward, the group is hopeful the lifting of total travel restrictions globally will boost consumer demand in Malaysia and Singapore.

“The end of the Prosperity Tax 2022 will also positively impact the net profit,” the company said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

Carlsberg will issue a first interim dividend of 21 sen per share for Q1, which is one sen lower than the 22 sen dividend in the corresponding quarter last year.

At market-close, Carlsberg’s share price was unchanged at RM21.52, valuing the group at RM6.58 billion.