COPENHAGEN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Danish brewer Carlsberg upgraded its earnings expectations for the full year 2018, backed by a solid half-year performance, the company announced Thursday.

Carlsberg now expects a "high-single-digit percentage organic growth in operating profit" against a previously forecast of "mid-single-digit."

It also expects a translation impact on operating profit of around minus 425 million Danish kroner as opposed to previously minus 550 million kroner, based on the spot rates as of Aug. 15.

Carlsberg said in a statement that the adjustments were "based on the strong H1 performance, the upgrade of the expected Funding the Journey benefits and a good start to the third quarter."

Operating profit before special items (EBIT) for the first half-year 2018 stood at 4.373 billion kroner, up 6 percent from 4.125 billion kroner for the same period last year.

Net profit for the first six months of 2018 rose to 2.471 billion kroner from 2.304 billion kroner a year before, while net revenue declined 0.7 percent to 30.966 billion kroner year-on-year.

"We delivered strong results for the first six months, with healthy top-line growth, margin improvements across the regions, strong cash flow and continued debt reduction," said Carlsberg CEO Cees't Hart in the statement. (1 U.S. dollar = 6.56 Danish kroner)