Annual Report 2023

COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT NO 05/2024 - February 28, 2024

Statement by Royal Unibrew’s CEO Lars Jensen:
“Solid execution in 2023 ensured organic EBIT growth of 7%. Despite a challenging start to the year and poor summer weather, we managed to build increasing momentum throughout the year. Organic EBIT growth in Q4 reached a remarkable 29%, ensuring that we comfortably ended within our guided EBIT range.

Our business scope is significantly expanded during the past years, and with the acquisitions of Vrumona and San Giorgio in 2023, our net revenue has almost doubled over the past three years. Royal Unibrew is now a business with strong multi-beverage platforms in the Nordic region and a footprint in Western Europe with solid growth perspectives. We are confident that from where we are now, we have plenty of earnings potential to realize in the coming years from integrating, consolidating and growing these businesses, while our mature markets continue their solid and steady growth path.

2023 marked another milestone year in our sustainability journey. For the second year in a row, we were recognized as an 'ESG Industry Top Rated' company by Morningstar Sustainalytics. Additionally, we commenced electricity production from our solar park in Denmark, inaugurated a biogas plant in Finland, and received validation of our emissions reduction targets from the Science Based Targets initiative. The SBTi validation is a testament to our persistent efforts to mitigate our climate impact. However, there is still much to be done on the ESG agenda, and we remain committed to advancing our efforts to achieve our sustainability targets.”

FY 2023 financial review
Volumes for 2023 show an aggregated sale of 14.1 million hectoliters of beverages, equaling a growth over 2022 of 5% of which -3% was organic growth. Net revenue for 2023 increased by 13% and amounted to DKK 12,927 million compared to DKK 11,487 million in 2022. Organic revenue growth amounted to 4% in 2023 compared to 11% in 2022.

Gross profit increased DKK 525 million, up 11%, compared to 2022 and amounted to DKK 5,394 million. The gross margin of 42% was on par with 2022.

Sales and distribution expenses in 2023 was DKK 232 million higher than the 2022 figure and amounted to DKK 3,158 million compared to DKK 2,926 million in 2022. Administrative expenses for 2023 showed a DKK 201 million increase compared to 2022 and amounted to DKK 628 million compared to DKK 427 million in 2022. The increase is primarily driven by central organizational capacity increases, particularly the group functions IT, finance and procurements. Additionally, the increase also stems from acquisitions made in 2022 which in 2023 had full year impact as well as impact from acquisitions made in 2023.