Belhaven Group, the Scottish brewery, posted that the second half of the year to the end of March had been very positive and it expects to meet its profit forecast for the year. The company said sales in the all-important Christmas period met expectations and volumes in the final quarter had been ahead of plan.

"The underlying strength of the business gives management every confidence that the profit expectation of Belhaven in the current financial year will be achieved," said Belhaven's CEO, Stuart Ross.

27 March, 2003