CHILE: Beer and pisco offsets weak wine at CCU

By just-drinks.com editorial team | 3 May 2006

Beer and pisco sales have given a boost to quarterly earnings at Chile's largest brewer CCU.

The company said yesterday (2 May) that first-quarter net profit rose by 3% year-on-year to CHL20.4bn (US$39.4m) on the back of a 7.5 increase in revenues to CHL139.3bn. Beer sales in Chile rose over 9%, while pisco sales more than doubled after CCU acquired a major competitor last year.

Wine sales, however, dropped 12.5% due to the strengthening of the Chilean peso against the US dollar and lower sales volumes in Chile, CCU said when announcing its results late last week.

Sectors: Beer & cider, Spirits, Wine