COPENHAGEN, May 17 (Reuters) – A.P. Moller-Maersk
, owner of the world’s biggest container shipping
company, is “100 percent certain” it can more than double
freight rates in July despite market weakness that has seen
prices fall by a third since March.

Shipping has taken a hammering in the past five years, hit
both by the broad weakness of the global economy and a boom in
orders for huge new freighters put in by major players just as
the 2008 financial crisis hit.

COPENHAGEN, May 14 (Reuters) – Danish jewellery maker
Pandora beat forecasts for first-quarter core
earnings, evidence that its outgoing chief executive’s
turnaround strategy is paying off.

Shares in the company, known for its charm bracelets, topped
210 Danish crowns ($36.6) for the first time in two years on
Tuesday, the price they were sold at when the company joined the
stock market.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Carlsberg (CARLb.CO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) sees no sign of slowing growth in Asia after a 13 percent rise in revenue in the region helped the world’s fourth-biggest brewer beat profit forecasts.

The Danish company said sales in Asia accounted for nearly 20 percent of group revenue in the quarter, approaching eastern Europe sales of 22 percent, and cushioning sluggish mature European markets and a decline in former growth driver, Russia.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Danish brewer Carlsberg’s (CARLb.CO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) first-quarter operating profit and revenue beat forecasts on Tuesday, as strong beer sales in Asia cushioned sluggish mature European markets and a decline in its former growth driver Russia.

Beer sales in Asia accounted for nearly 20 percent of group revenue in the first quarter, approaching Eastern Europe sales which accounted for 22 percent.

COPENHAGEN, May 2 (Reuters) – Denmark’s central bank is
expected to cut interest rates on Thursday to at least partly
track the European Central Bank’s 25 basis point reduction,
taking the main Danish policy rate to within touching distance
of zero.

The ECB cut its main refinancing rate by 25 basis points,
leaving the Nationalbank on course to trim its borrowing costs
too in line with its mandate of keeping the crown currency
steady against the euro.

COPENHAGEN, May 2 (Reuters) – Danske Bank
intends to sell a large part of its troubled Irish loan book by
end of next year to cut loan losses after first-quarter profit
missed forecasts.

Danish banks have been stung by bad debts from writedowns on
loans to struggling farmers and a burst property bubble, a
phenomenon the country’s Nordic rivals have so far escaped.

COPENHAGEN, May 1 (Reuters) – Denmark’s Novo Nordisk
could see the U.S. launch of its biggest drug hope, a
new long-acting insulin, delayed until 2018 while it conducts
more tests to satisfy regulators, it said on Wednesday.

The world’s biggest insulin producer was dealt a major blow
in February when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
refused to approve the drug, called Tresiba, and instead asked
for extra tests to assess potential heart risks.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Carlsberg (CARLb.CO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Chief Executive Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen will step into the breach as he seeks the right candidate to lead the Danish brewer’s push into Asia after it’s regional head resigned on Wednesday.

The world’s fourth-biggest brewer announced that Roy Bagattini is leaving to take a job at fashion group Levi Strauss & Company LEVST.UL after heading the Asia division since 2009, but Rasmussen insisted that Carlsberg would not lose focus on its expansion in the region.

COPENHAGEN/HAMBURG (Reuters) – Puma (PUMG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) poached a new chief executive from Danish jeweller Pandora, hiring a man with experience on the football field and at long-time rival Adidas (ADSGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) to lead a turnaround of the German sportswear company.

Bjorn Gulden has revived the fortunes of Pandora (PNDORA.CO: Quote, Profile, Research) in the year he has been in charge, more than doubling the share price and pushing sales up 53 percent.

COPENHAGEN/HAMBURG, April 18 (Reuters) – Puma
poached a new chief executive from Danish jeweller Pandora,
hiring a man with experience on the soccer field and at
long-time rival Adidas to lead a turnaround of the
German sportswear company.

Bjorn Gulden has revived the fortunes of Pandora
in the year he has been in charge, more than doubling the share
price and pushing sales up 53 percent.