Annual Report 2011

COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT NO. 14/2012 —  9 MARCH 2012

The Board of Directors of Royal Unibrew has today approved the Company's Annual Report for 2011.

FOCUSED BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND ENHANCED EFFICIENCY GENERATE STRONG

RESULTS

"In 2011 we generally strengthened our market position, generated further earnings improvement and reduced our debts. This was achieved on the basis of our continued focus on developing our commercial activities in combination with continuous efficiency improvements. The earnings improvement was achieved in spite of poor weather in the peak season, increased economic uncertainty among consumers and tough competition in our markets. Recent years' strategic focus and the results achieved show that Royal Unibrew has an attractive platform for the future, and we see good potential for continuously developing our business".

HIGHLIGHTS 2011

• Royal Unibrew generally strengthened its market position
• Organic sales increase of 2%
• Net revenue maintained organically
• Solid earnings and EBIT margin improvements
• Strong cash flow
• Significant part of cash flow distributed to shareholders
• The Board of Directors proposes increased distribution to shareholders in 2012

DEVELOPMENTS IN 2011

• Royal Unibrew generally increased its market shares on branded beer as well as soft and malt drinks.
• Net revenue declined by 9% to DKK 3,431 million in 2011 due to the divestment of the Group's Polish subsidiary. Adjusted for the divestment, net revenue was at the 2010 level.
• EBITDA amounted to DKK 601 million, which remains unchanged from 2010. Organically, EBITDA went up by DKK 26 million.
• Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) went up by DKK 57 million (14%) to DKK 474 million. DKK 19 million of the increase was caused by the change of accounting estimates.
• EBIT margin increased by 2.8 percentage points to 13.8%.
• Profit before tax amounted to DKK 461 million compared to DKK 375 million in 2010.
• Free cash flow amounted to DKK 384 million compared to DKK 463 million in 2010.
• In 2011 dividend of DKK 262 million was distributed to shareholders, including DKK 123 million through share buy-back.
• Net interest-bearing debt was reduced in 2011 by DKK 139 million to DKK 631 million.
• In Q4 net revenue increased by 6% in organic terms over 2010.
• EBIT for Q4 amounted to DKK 85 million compared to DKK 60 million in 2010, and EBIT margin went up by 3.8 percentage points to 11.2%.

OUTLOOK FOR 2012

*In 2011 Poland was recognised with revenue of DKK 50 million, EBITDA of DKK 1 million and EBIT of DKK 0 million.

The Board of Directors proposes distribution in 2012 by way of dividend of DKK 17 per share (2011: DKK 12.5 per share) and expects to initiate a share buy-back of DKK 125 million in May 2012. This corresponds to expected total distribution of DKK 350 million in 2012 including DKK 45 million from the ongoing share buy-back programme, which is DKK 88 million above the 2011 distribution.

The Annual Report has been released via NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen and is attached hereto an available on  www.royalunibrew.com.

Yours sincerely

Royal Unibrew A/S

Henrik Brandt

CEO

Please direct any questions to me at tel. +45 56 77 15 13.

It will be possible to follow Royal Unibrews presentation of the Annual Report 2011 on Friday 9 March 2012 at 9:00 am via audiocast at one of the following dial-in numbers:

Danish participants:   +45 327 147 67
International participants: +44 207 509 5139

US participants:  +1 718 354 1226
 

The presentation can also be followed on Royal Unibrew's website www.royalunibrew.com.