RUSSIA: BBH continues figures rise, warns of tougher H2

Baltic Beverages Holding has posted another healthy leap in sales and profits for its latest quarter.

The brewer, which is jointly-owned by Carlsberg and Scottish & Newcastle, said today (1 August) that operating profit for the three months to 30 June was up by 30% on the corresponding period last year, totalling EUR206m (US$281.5m). Sales for the quarter were also up by a third (33.4%) at EUR825m.

For the first six months of this year, operating profit leapt by 48% to EUR295m on the back of sales up 37% to EUR1.3bn.

A mild first quarter in Russia leant itself to grow the beer market in the country, BBH noted, where the company grew its market share to 37.6% from 30.8% a year earlier. In the Baltic states, market share reamined flat at 44.4%, as it did in Ukraine at 18.6%. With volume growth of 55% in  Kazakhstan, meanwhile, BBH now accounts for 42% of the country's beer market.

The company warned, however, that the second half of this year "remains challenging with tough comparisons".

"Marketing spend is skewed towards the second half of the year," BBH noted. "This was partly offset by the impact of rising input costs and distribution costs, particularly in the second quarter. This will continue to be a challenge going forward."

A run of price increases are set to be introduced in the second half, BBH added. with capital expenditure for the full year set to hit between EUR500m and EUR600m.

In May, BBH posted a 117% leap in operating profit to EUR88m for the first three months of 2007, on the back of a 44% lift in sales to EUR492m.