International brewer Lion Nathan defied volatile conditions to report improved trading figures for the three months ended December 31.
As a consequence of the "very encouraging performance" from the core beer business, the first quarter was in line with the company's expectations.
Lion Nathan remained on track to deliver improved full-year earnings and issued a guidance of $A300 million to $A315 million, chief executive Rob Murray said.
The company's balance sheet and cash generation remained strong, and did not have any funding facilities maturing until February 2010.
"Our business is in robust shape thanks to the investments that we have made in recent years to drive growth. The beer market is resilient, and our largest business units continue to deliver high quality results."
Lion Nathan was on track to deliver earnings growth of between 10% and 16%, he said.
In Australia, consumers continued to move towards premium beers and the low-carb and mid-strength categories remained strong.
The Boag's brands had strengthened under Lion's ownership, with volume and revenue growing well in the Christmas period, he said.
The New Zealand business grew 1% in volume for the first quarter with strong growth rates in wine and spirits and ready-to-drink categories.
Net sales revenue for beef, wine, spirits and RTDs was up 2.7%.
Beer volume was in line with the same period last year at 50 million litres, with premium category volume up 10%.
