SANTIAGO, April 26 (Reuters) - Chile's largest brewer CCU (CU.N: Quote , Profile , Research ) (CCN.SN: Quote , Profile , Research ) said on Thursday its first-quarter net profit rose 21.5 percent.
The Santiago-based drinks company said its profit in the January-to-March period was 25.464 billion pesos ($47.2 million), up from 20.965 billion pesos in the first quarter last year.
While dominating the Chilean beer market, CCU is also Argentina's second-largest beer producer and makes soft drinks, fruit juices, wine, mineral water and Pisco, a local brandy.
Earlier this month, CCU reported that sales volumes rose 7.7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2007, with the strongest rise in Argentina.
More than one-half of CCU's sales by volume in the January-March period came from the production of beer, when the Southern Hemisphere was in summer. (1 dollar = 539.5 pesos at end of March)
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