Carlsberg is investigated by German authority anticartel

Carlsberg confirmed yesterday that it is under investigation by German authorities after media information anticartel indicate that the Danish brewery was suspected of controlling prices.
The German weekly magazine Focus published recently that Carlsberg, the rival Anheuser Busch InBev and some local competitors may face fines totaling hundreds of millions of euros.
According to the publication, companies under investigation control almost half the beer market in Germany and were accused of artificially inflating the prices of about 24 beverage brands.
Carlsberg confirmed that federal Office is being investigated by the German organ anticartel, but refused to provide further information. A spokesman of the anticartel federal Office in Germany said that an investigation of breweries is being conducted from September 2011, but not named all the companies involved.
According to the magazine, the companies under investigation include Anheuser Bush InBev, Carlsberg, the German Oetker retailer and German Warsteiner, Krombacher breweries, Erdinger and Bitburger.
The Warsteiner and Bitburger confirmed this week, are also under investigation, were sought by the publication, but did not want to comment.
Anheuser Busch InBev and Oetker also refused to comment, while representatives of Krombacher and Erdinger weren't immediately available. The theme was one of the main subjects in German newspapers this week.
Performance
Last month, Carlsberg reported profits below expectations in the last quarter of 2012, with the stagnation of sales on the Russian market and the fall of the same in Western Europe. Thus, the Carlsberg's profit increased to 384.79 million euros, down from 410 million euros estimated by analysts polled by Reuters media.
In December last year, the Danish beer maker bought 100% of the main Russian Baltika Brewery, which since 1996 dominates the Russian market.