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STORY: Heineken sold more beer than expected in the first quarter.

It reported a year-on-year growth in Q1 of 4.7%, sticking to its forecast for the year.

The world's second-largest brewer said the amount that beer volumes rose was almost double analysts’ expectations.

Its shares increased as much as 1.6% in early trading and have since dropped marginally.

Heineken is focused on restoring volume growth this year, which was hurt in 2023 as it hiked its prices to offset the all-round rising costs, from energy to barley.

The company’s CEO said that all regions posted higher volume and net revenue.

He added that the quarter was helped by an early Easter and one-off effects.

In February, Heineken disappointed investors with a cautious growth forecast, saying it could be anywhere between a low and high single-digit percentage this year.

That was due to uncertainty around important markets Nigeria and Vietnam.

But volume rose almost 20% in Nigeria, and in the low teens for Vietnam.

Still, the brewer said it continued to see the economic environment as "challenging and uncertain," and it couldn't extrapolate the reported top-line growth to the rest of the year.