Revenues rose at Heineken's Irish business last year, despite ongoing economic difficulty and a declining beer market.

Figures showed Heineken Ireland increased revenues to €464 million in 2011, with a claimed 37 per cent share of the lager market and 26.5 per cent of the total beer market here.

Its Coors Light brand grew by 8 per cent, despite a shrinking beer market, while the stout breands - Murphy's and Beamish - have performed in line with the market.

Managing director of Heineken Ireland David Forde described the figures as "positive and solid"

"Our focus on maintaining a sustainable investment in our portfolio has enabled us to deliver robust top-line growth," he said.

"Being mindful of the continuing volatility and increased uncertainties in our marketplace we remain confident that our efforts combined with our strengthened portfolio and marketing investments, position us well to deliver sustainable growth over the long-term."

The Irish results came as the world's third-largest brewer reported group-wide results. It beat expectations with a 9 per cent profit increase in 2011 after recovering from a damp European summer that kept a lid on drinking, and launched a new drive to cut costs.

Heineken, which had forecast flat net profit, said its earlier caution was driven by a poor summer particularly in Europe, when it was unclear whether drinking was depressed just by bad weather or by falling consumer confidence.

"If we look now, we had a very good fourth quarter and so overall the business is doing better than we thought at that moment in time," chief executive Jean-Francois van Boxmeer told a conference call.

The company gave no forecast for 2012, beyond saying it expected to grow in emerging markets and boost revenue in developed ones by pushing premium brands. Marketing costs would be in line with last year, but input costs would rise, it said.

The maker of Europe's top-selling Heineken lager and Amstel said 2011 net profit before one-offs rose by 9.2 per cent on a like-for-like basis to €1.58 billion, compared with a Reuters poll forecast for 1.52 billion..

In addition, lower interest costs due to cashflow generation and a slightly reduced tax rate helped the bottom line.

Heineken said it had launched a new €500 million cost savings plan.

The group, which saved €614 million under its previous three-year plan, said fresh cuts would come by taking a global approach to purchasing and technology. It added this would require an upfront payment of €200 million.

"It's a lot better than expected," said Trevor Stirling, analyst at Bernstein Securities, adding volume growth in France and Italy and flat in Spain had been impressive. "On the new cost savings plan, I think it is more than people were expecting."

Heineken, present in all the problematic euro zone periphery nations including Greece, said beer volumes rose by 3.1 per cent last year and it expected to benefit this year from growth in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

The company said it expected a 6 per cent rise in input costs, primarily reflecting higher prices for malted barley.

Brewers tend to hedge input costs a year in advance. So Heineken, like its peers, is set to be hit by a sharp increase in commodity prices in 2011 when future prices for malted barley were 40 per cent higher.

Heineken shares have gained 2.2 per cent this year, in line with the Stoxx 600 European food and beverage index, but underperforming peers Anheuser-Busch InBev, Carlsberg and SABMiller.

Carlsberg reports full-year results on February 20th and AB InBev on March 8th. SABMiller, whose year runs to end-March, has said beer volumes rose 3 per cent in the final three months of 2011, helped by growth in Africa and Latin America.

Additional reporting: Reuters