(MENAFN- AFP) Danish brewer Carlsberg announced on Wednesday growth in third-quarter profits despite a revenue drop, thanks to tight cost control measures.
Carlsberg's net profit, which also benefited from favourable weather conditions in Western Europe, rose by 4.4 percent to 2.241 billion kroner (300 million euro, $403 million) from 2.146 billion kroner a year earlier.
"We have achieved this through ongoing tight cost control, underpinning the importance of our continued efforts to make our business more efficient and lean," chief executive Joergen Buhl Rasmussen said in a statement.
Profit figures were slightly above the 2.1-billion-kroner expectation by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
Revenue, however, fell by 3.3 percent from 18.59 to 17.97 billion kroner and fell short of the 18.49 billion kroner predicted by analysts.
"We maintain an appropriate balance between becoming more efficient and ensuring that we continue to invest in our business for the longer term," Rasmussen added.
The group said it was maintaining its earnings outlook for the year, despite "challenging and uncertain market conditions and an adverse currency impact."
Sales in Russia have been hit by a slower economy and government efforts to battle the country's drink problem, which have included a ban on sales in kiosks and on late night sales, as well as marketing restrictions.
The total beer volume sold this quarter fell by 2.8 percent to 38.6 million hectolitres compared to the same period of 2012, where sales reached 39.7 million hectolitres.
Carlsberg has sought to grow sales by expanding outside western markets and is building two breweries in Asia, one in Myanmar and one in China, expected to be operational in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
Last March, the company launched a partial take-over offer to acquire up to 30.29 percent of Chinese Chongqing Brewery.
In the early afternoon, the price of shares in the company were up by 2.28 percent, while Danish stock market as a whole was up by 0.31 percent.
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