Danish brewer Carlsberg met forecasts with a 38 per cent rise in first-quarter operating profit, aided by growth in Asia and recovery in its important East European markets.

The brewer kept its 2011 outlook unchanged, and said it expected Russian beer volume to grow 2-4 per cent, but that the cost of sales world-wide would rise due to higher imput costs as the price of raw materials continue to climb.

"We are particularly pleased that the important Russian market has returned to growth," chief executive Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen said.

The Russian market grew an estimated 1 percent in the first quarter and continued an improving trend that started in mid-2010 as a result of an improved economic environment, Carlsberg said.

First-quarter operating profit rose to 1.00 billion Danish crowns (€134 million).

"The result is close to expectations and they keep the outlook intact ... it is a neutral set of results," Alm Brand analyst Stig Nymann said. "I had hoped that they would at one point this year raise their expectations for the Russian market, but that did not happen this time."

Eastern Europe accounts for about 40 per cent of Carlsberg's total beer volume, while northern and western Europe accounts for about 40 per cent and Asia 20 per cent.

"Carlsberg's Eastern European business benefited from an improving macroeconomic environment and from distorted year-on-year comparisons," the group said.

Carlsberg's total beer volumes grew 28 per cent organically in Eastern Europe and, adjusted for destocking in Russia in the first quarter last year, the organic volume growth for the region would have been an estimated 6 per cent, it said.

The Asian region reported 6 per cent organic beer volume growth for the quarter, while overall beer markets in Northern & Western Europe declined.

Sales rose 14 per cent to 12.5 billion Danish crowns, compared with a forecast for 12.3 billion.

Reuters