KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 2): Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd has confirmed that the prices of some of its drinks will be revised from the middle of this month to account for rising costs, as per a leaked letter that had been making the rounds on WhatsApp.

Carlsberg Malaysia has confirmed with theedgemarkets.com that the contents of a letter dated Oct 14 is an official communication from the company to its trade partner.

Responding to queries on Tuesday, Carlsberg Malaysia said: “We would also like to reiterate that the price adjustments are to our trade partner and we do not determine retail (consumer) prices, which are set independently by our customers.”

The letter, signed by the group’s sales director Gary Tan, said the new prices for beer and stout would take effect from Nov 15.

“The contents of the letter are meant to be treated with strict confidentiality between us as a manufacturer and our trade partner. As such, we regret that the letter and information contained therein have been circulated publicly in an irresponsible manner.

“It is up to the retailers to determine consumer prices according to their business needs,” it added in an email statement. 

For its latest quarterly financial results ended June 30, 2021 (2QFY21), Carlsberg’s net profit tripled to RM37.14 million against RM10.65 million in the same quarter of the previous year, thanks to higher sales coming from a low base due to the first lockdown in 2020 as well as an absence of bill of demand of RM6.4 million incurred last year.

Quarterly revenue stood at RM349.21 million, a 21.6% increase from RM287.27 million registered previously.

For the first half ended June 30, 2021 (1HFY21), the group’s net profit grew 23.9% to RM103.59 million against RM83.6 million, while revenue remained flat at RM881.2 million against RM877.15 million reported previously.

At the time of writing, shares of Carlsberg were down by 0.54% or 12 sen at RM22 apiece, giving it a market capitalisation of RM6.73 billion.

Note: This article has been updated to remove confidential information regarding the pricing of Carlsberg's products.