Heineken, Carlsberg see profit up

Rising challenges: Heineken and Carlsberg are preparing to face an even-bigger competitor from Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s planned purchase of SABMiller Plc. — EPA

LONDON: Heineken NVand Carlsberg A/S, the world’s third and fourth largest brewers, forecast higher profit this year as markets such as Vietnam and South-East Asia offset weakness in Russia and China.

Sales and profit will both increase in 2016 even with an “increasingly challenging external environment,” Amsterdam-based Heineken said in a statement yesterday. Carlsberg forecast operating profit will rise by a low single-digit percentage on an organic basis as the Copenhagen-based maker of Tuborg beer reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.