Danish brewer Carlsberg reports strong growth in 1st quarter

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish brewer Carlsberg says it saw a strong growth in the first three months of the year despite trying to sell its business in Russia, where it generated around 10% of its sales. The Copenhagen-based company announced last month that it was exiting Russia but says it’s operations are continuing there to retain thousands of employees until a sale is completed. Despite that, Carlsberg said Thursday that its Russian business is “no longer part of Central and Eastern Europe for reporting purposes.” It says sales — excluding Russia — increased 27.9% compared with the same period a year ago. Reported revenue grew by 26.5%, to $2.1 billion. Carlsberg didn’t publish net income figures for the first quarter.