The US brewer, Boston Beer Co., posted net income for the year to the end of December of US$8.55m, up 9.2% from US$7.83m in 2001. Sales rose from US$207.22m to US$238.34, while net sales increased from US$186.8m in 2001 to US$215.4m in 2002.

Volumes rose by 10.4% from 1.16m barrels in 2001 to 1.29m barrels in 2002. “We are continuing to see double-digit volume increases due to growth from Sam Adams Light, net of some low cannibalisation of Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Seasonals,” said Boston Beer’s chairman, Jim Koch.

The brewer said it expects to post double-digit growth the first half of 2003, along with earnings improvement for the full year.