Japan: Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd, Japan's second-biggest beer maker, said on August 3 it expected first-half pretax profit to top 40 billion yen ($361 million), beating its target as strong drug and beverage sales offset sluggish beer sales at home. Kirin had set a first-half target of 37 billion yen. A Kirin spokeswoman said the company also expected operating profit in the period, which ran to the end of June, to rise 10 percent from a year ago to around 44 billion yen, according to Reuters.

Beer sales slowed during the period due to a shift in consumer tastes to newer, cheaper drinks such as those based on shochu, a distilled alcohol made from raw materials like sweet potatoes and barley, and rival Sapporo Holdings Ltd.'s beer-like "Draft One", which is taxed less than beer or happoshu.

Last month, Kirin posted a 6.6-% drop in its beer and happoshu, or low-malt beer, shipments in the first half compared to a year ago. Beer shipments alone fell 3.5 percent.

Kirin's rivals are also facing a drop in their beer sales this year, forcing them to diversify their alcohol products. Kirin and Japan's four other major breweries saw a 6.4-% fall in their combined beer and happoshu shipments during the January-June period against a year earlier.

Most of them, however, are expecting increased profit for the first half because non-beer subsidiaries are doing well and cost cuts have brought savings. Kirin Brewery's earnings will be reported on August 10.

04 August, 2004