COPENHAGEN: Carlsberg, the world's fourth-biggest brewer, said on Tuesday that it returned to profit in the first quarter from the outcome 12 months ago, significantly beating analyst forecasts on strong growth in Asia.
The Danish beer giant, which also maintained its full-year outlook, recorded a net profit of 62 million kroner (8.3 million euros, $10.9 million) in the quarter, swinging back into the black from a previous loss of 76 million kroner in the same period in 2012.
Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast an average net profit of 26.4 million kroner.
Sales in the quarter rose to 13.29 billion euros, up from 12.78 billion in the first three months of last year.
Carlsberg chief executive Joergen Buhl Rasmussen called the performance "solid".
He said: "We are very satisfied with the strong performance of our Asian business which delivered almost 20 percent organic revenue and profit growth."
He said: "Our Russian business continued its positive performance, and in Western Europe, underlying profitability improved and we reached a very important milestone when we implemented the supply chain integration and business standardisation project in Sweden without business disruption."
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