Heineken Toasts Profit As Carlsberg Sales Sink

Two of Europe's biggest brewers have reported varying fortunes - with Carlsberg (Other OTC: CABGY - news) slumping to an annual loss for the first time as Heineken (Swiss: HEI.SW - news) 's profits rose.

Carlsberg partly blamed a 4% decline in sales across the group for a loss of £181m during 2015, with Russia's economic troubles the major factor.

The Danish company closed two breweries in the country in January, citing a 10% fall in the Russian beer market.

It had previously sold its Leeds brewery in the UK amid stiff competition from craft beer and premium lager rivals.

The company said: "Our UK business remained challenged, with volumes declining by 7% in a market that declined by an estimated 2% for the full year."

It admitted losing some "major customer contracts" in the latter half of the year, adding that restructuring of the business was progressing as scheduled.

Carlsberg said it had recently revitalised its "Probably the best" advertising, saying it had increased brand visibility.

Dutch brewer Heineken's net profits rose 25% last year and it said sales growth in South Africa, Brazil, Mexico and the UK were at double-digit levels.

It credited its sponsorship of the Rugby World Cup for its UK performance.

Greene King (Other OTC: GKNGY - news) also reported rising sales as it updated the market on its performance on Wednesday.

The pub company and brewer reported like-for-like sales growth of more than 5% across the group over the two weeks during Christmas.

It said it made a record £6.8m on Christmas Day itself as diners chose its pubs and restaurants over cooking at home.

Another statistic of note was that its outlets sold an average 4,447 drinks per minute in the last hour of 2015.