By Kosaku Narioka


Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. shares fell sharply Tuesday after first-quarter net profit slid 87% from a year earlier due to higher costs of raw materials.

The shares were recently 12% lower at 4,102 yen after falling as much as 13% earlier.

The Japanese beverage maker said Monday after market close that net profit fell to Y4.35 billion ($33.7 million) for the quarter ended March 31, as earnings fell for the Japan and Oceania operations due to higher costs of raw materials. First-quarter revenue rose 8.8% to Y496.86 billion thanks partly to a recovery of demand for beer in Japan and Europe, it said.

Asahi said first-quarter earnings were better than it had thought thanks to cost cuts in various operations, and the company kept its guidance for 2022.

Asahi said it continued to expect revenue to rise 9.6% to Y2.450 trillion and net profit to fall 4.6% to Y146.50 billion this year.

The Topix subindex for food companies was recently 1.6% lower and the Nikkei Stock Average was 0.2% higher.


Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-16-22 2256ET