Heineken Ireland has recorded turnover of €156m in the first half of 2008, up 3% on the same period last year. It said its sales volumes were static in an overall beer market which fell 0.4%.
'2008 will provide another challenging year for the Industry with changes in consumer lifestyle and a decline in alcohol consumption,' said Declan Farmer, Heineken Ireland's corporate affairs manager.
The company said there were strong sales of Heineken lager, which remained the top-selling lager brand, and Coors, which recorded growth of more than 20%. Speciality beers such as Germany's Paulaner and Poland's Zywiec also performed well.
Its Dutch parent company said first-half operating profit rose 7.4%, adding that it had managed to pass on higher costs to most markets apart from the US.
The world's third-largest brewer said profit before once-off items was €925m and sales totalled €6.4 billion, up 17%. But it lowered its growth forecast for the full year, due to weak consumer sentiment and the downturn in many economies.
