The world may be in the midst of a crisis, but at Carlsberg there’s not that much sign of it. Denmark’s world-renowned brewer came out of the first six months of 2009 with a profit after tax of almost two billion kroner, compared with DKK 1.5 billion in the same period last year.

Calrsberg CEO Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen says that Carlsberg is well on its way to fulfilling expectations for 2009.

“Given the expectations of a challenging market, we entered 2009 sharply focused on permanent efficiency improvements. We have carried out a long list of initiatives and we are satisfied with the good earnings and cash flow results in the first six months of the year. We are well on our way to fulfilling our expectations without compromising Carlsberg’s ambition of improving the value of our brands and delivering continued result growth,” Buhl Rasmussen says.

Carlsberg has maintained its expectations for the entire year, forecasting a profit of at least DKK 3.5 billion on a turnover of some DKK 61 billion.