Carlsberg CEO notes changing beer habits amid cost pressures
Green bottles of Carlsberg beer move along the production line at the Baltika Breweries LLC plant, operated by Carlsberg A/S, in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Spending pressures are dividing beer drinking habits, further clouding the outlook for brewers already battling declining sales volumes.
Drinkers are increasingly bypassing once-loved core beer brands and instead opting for premium or economy alternatives, Danish brewer Carlsberg said Thursday, as beermakers confront wider pressures on the drinks sector.
“We do see a continued bifurcation in terms of preferences,” CEO Aarup-Andersen told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday.
Read more from CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist here.
Pandora shares plunge 12.7% after firm flags tariffs, currency hit
Pandora share price
Pandora shares dropped 12.7% by 8:45 a.m. in London (3:45 a.m. ET), after the company published its second-quarter earnings release.
The Danish jewelry giant said on Friday morning that it faced “headwind from foreign exchange, tariffs and commodity prices” in the second quarter, which would continue to weigh on its bottom line.
Pandora’s jewelry is manufactured at two factories in Thailand, which has been hit with 19% “reciprocal” tariffs by the U.S. — Pandora’s biggest market.
The firm said it expected to take a direct financial hit from U.S. tariffs this year of 200 million Danish kroner ($31.3 million), and a 450 million kroner annualized hit in 2026.
“Pandora will consider further price increases, cost measures as well as other mitigation to cover the impact,” the company said in its release. “Timing and extent of the measures is to be confirmed.”
— Chloe Taylor
European stocks open higher
We’re coming up to 20 minutes of trading, and European bourses are broadly higher.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was last seen up 0.3%, with all major bourses in positive territory.
Alaska, earnings and data
Aside from the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska on Friday, investors will be monitoring earnings and economic data.
Results have come from Pandora and Finnish utility firms Fortum.
Pandora’s quarterly sales came in slightly below expectations, while Fortum’s second-quarter comparable operating profit fell to 115 million euros ($134 million) from 233 million euros a year earlier, missing forecasts.
Later on Friday, market participants can expect U.S. retail sales data, as well as figures on U.S. import and export prices, along with the latest Michigan Consumer Sentiment print.
— Chloe Taylor
Here are your opening calls
After three consecutive days of gains, the pan-European Stoxx 50 looks set to rise again today, with futures tied to the index last seen trading 0.6% higher.
Those tied to the German DAX, France’s CAC 40 and London’s FTSE 100 are also all up by around 0.6%.
Market participants will be watching news out of the highly anticipated meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with hopes building that a resolution on the war in Ukraine can be reached.
— Chloe Taylor
Pandora maintains full-year outlook even as China lags
A woman stands inside a store of Danish international jewellery company Pandora in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ida Marie Odgaard | Afp | Getty Images
Danish jewelry brand Pandora on Friday posted a slightly weaker-than-expected rise in second-quarter sales and maintained its full-year outlook despite flagging continued weakness in China.
Revenues rose 8% on an organic basis to 7.08 billion Danish kroner ($1.10 billion) in the three-month period, just shy of the 7.12 billion Danish kroner forecast by LSEG analysts.
China recorded the largest decline in organic sales, down 15%, while the U.S. accelerated 12%. Pandora said performance in China “continues to be challenged” and announced an anticipated doubling of store closures in the country to 100 this year.
The company nevertheless reiterated its full-year forecast for organic sales growth of 7% to 8% and an operating profit margin of at least 24%, including the impact of U.S. tariffs.
— Karen Gilchrist