Japan: Sapporo Holdings Ltd said on July 26 it expects to post a profit in the first six months of the 2004 business year; the first time in four years; due mainly to higher sales of its Draft One beer-like alcoholic beverage. The Japanese company announced that it expects profit to rise by 120% to a record JPY14.7 billion (US$133.8 million) for the year to 31 December. The brewery had initially projected a 32% decline for 2004 to JPY4.6 billion.

The company mentioned it believes group sales will rise by 2% this year, while net profit should leap by 110% to JPY5 billion.

The major Japanese brewery said it expects its group net balance to swing into the black in the period to June 30 with a profit of 2.7 billion yen, a turnaround from a loss of 6.4 billion yen projected Feb 20.

Sapporo’s preliminary annual sales target for Draft One, which it released nationwide in February, was 10 m cases, but it revised this target in April to 14 m and in July upgraded it to 17 m cases. The product sells for less than low-malt beer, boosting its popularity across a wide range of age groups, Sapporo said.

Sapporo also said that cost-cutting efforts at its factories and in raw materials procurement are progressing better than planned.

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