Heineken NV says it has returned to growth in its crucial Western Europe market in the first quarter, after a long period of stagnation. "Organic" sales — measured by operations held in both years, stripping out the effects of currencies and acquisitions — grew by 3.4 percent.
However, the Dutch-based brewer's reported sales fell due to the strong euro and because its Eastern European sales shrank. Earnings were lower because of one-off gains in the same period a year ago.
Net profit was 143 million euros ($197 million), against 227 million euros a year ago. Sales fell 2.6 percent to 4.08 billion euros.
Heineken said that like-for-like sales in Western Europe, where it is the largest brewer, were up 1.8 percent to 1.51 billion euros.