COPENHAGEN – Danish brewer Carlsberg says it will slash 2,000 jobs, or about 15 per cent of its white-collar work force, after posting a 4.5 billion kronor ($650 million) loss in the third quarter due to poor performance in Russian and Chinese markets.
The loss reported Wednesday compared with a profit of 2.1 billion kroner in the same period last year, and included special items of 7.7 billion kroner, mostly impairment charges related to Carlsberg’s brands in Russia and China.
Revenue was up slightly at 18.3 billion kroner, from 18.1 billion kroner a year ago.
Launching a savings plan aimed at cutting annual costs by up to 2 billion kroner by 2018, CEO Cees’t Hart said Carlsberg acknowledges “that the profit development of recent years has not been satisfactory.”
