Farewell and welcoming at Carlsberg Malaysia

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Guests were present at the cocktail reception to bid adieu to outgoing Managing Director, Henrik Juel Andersen (right) and new Managing Director, Lars Lehmann (left).

Carlsberg Malaysia arranged a cocktail reception in Kuala Lumpur to welcome Lars Lehmann, taking over the role as Managing Director of Carlsberg Malaysia on 1 July 2016, and to bid adieu to outgoing Managing Director, Henrik Juel Andersen.

The cocktail reception saw approximately 200 trade partners, representatives of the F&B associations and members of the media.

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The Carlsberg Malaysia new management team. From left to right: Pearl Lai, Corporate Communications and CSR Director; David Bidau, Supply Chain Director; Gary Tan, Sales Director; Lars Lehmann, Managing Director effective 1 July 2016; Juliet Yap, Marketing Director; Felicia Teh, HR Director; Lew Yoong Fah, Chief Financial Officer

ScandAsia can also share parts of Mr Lehmann’s welcome letter, as follows.

“I am entrusted to take charge of the Malaysia and Singapore operations and oversee our investment in the Lion Brewery (Ceylon) Ltd. in Sri Lanka. I have also been appointed as Chairman of Carlsberg Singapore Pte. Ltd, am on the Board of Carlsberg Marketing Sdn. Bhd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Berhad, and Maybev Pte. Ltd., a 50% owned subsidiary by Carlsberg Singapore Pte. Ltd..
Prior to this appointment, I was the Regional CEO for Western Europe Challenger Markets overseeing 11 European markets Germany, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Portugal, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Carlsberg ExLiD (Export, License and Duty Free).

Over the last 13 years with the Carlsberg Group, I have undertaken various senior positions within sales, marketing and general management and successfully delivered top-line, bottom-line and market share growth.

I started in year 2003 in the Group Sales & Marketing responsible for commercial development among others working with Asia and Malaysia/Singapore. /…/

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The Carlsberg Malaysia Group was off to an impressive start this year with a strong double-digit growth in profits for the first quarter ended March 31st 2016. The Company’s profit after tax increased by 31.4% to RM64.0 million on the back of a revenue growth of 6.1% to RM455.7 million compared to the corresponding quarter in 2015. Profit from operations surged by 34.2% to RM 80.5 million for the quarter against the same period last year.

The solid results were mainly driven by higher volume and value gains in both the Malaysia and Singapore businesses. Operating profit of the Singapore operations improved significantly by 100.3% to RM20.0 million. A result of higher sales during the Chinese New Year festive period, increased contribution from subsidiary company MayBev Pte Ltd. and greater synergies achieved between our Malaysia and Singapore operations.

On March 1st, this year, the Malaysian government announced a new excise tax structure that removed ad-volarem tax and changed the calculation of excise duties from quantity (per litre) to alcohol strength (in %). This has resulted in major increases in excise duties in particular on beers of strong alcohol content, as well as further dampened the already weak consumption after the implementation of Goods & Services Tax (GST) on April 1st, 2015.

In response to the aggressive duty reform, the Company has taken various measures to address the negative impacts. On March 3rd, we adjusted our products price to distributors passing on partial of the excise duty increase. This being in full compliance with the guidelines of the Price Control and Anti Profiteering Act 2011 (“PCAPA”). However, in early June, we announced another round of price adjustment to distributors effective on July 1st to pass on the remaining part of the excise duty impact and reflect the change of alcohol strength to some of our brands.

/…/

On behalf of the Management and employees of the Carlsberg Malaysia Group, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt thanks to the former Managing Director Mr. Henrik Juel Andersen for his admirable leadership and invaluable contribution to the Company’s results. I wish him every success in his new role as the Managing Director of Lao Brewery Company Ltd.

Last but not least, I wish to thank you, our shareholders, for your confidence in the business and your trust in us realizing our ambition of becoming the most successful, professional and attractive brewer in Malaysia and Singapore.

Thank you.

Lars Lehmann
Managing Director”

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About Joakim Persson

Freelance business and lifestyle photojournalist

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