BBH Increases Earnings 37.1% in 1H07

Baltic Beverages Holding AB, which controls Slavutych (SLAV: BUY) and Lvivska breweries in Ukraine released its 1H07 earnings, indicating a 37.1% yoy boost in sales to USD 1.8 bln. Beer sales during the period grew 30% in real terms. The company posted EBITDA of USD 512 mln (+37.5 yoy) and operating income of USD 1.1 bln (+47.9% yoy). The company’s EBITDA margin for the period grew one point to 28.4%.  Olha Pankiv: BBH Ukraine promises to announce 1H results during the next ten days. We expect the group to increase its share in domestic sales to 19% in 2007 (including Slavutych (SLAV: BUY) – 14%, and Lvivska pyvovarnya – 5%) from ~16% last year.