Beer sales rose year-on-year in the second quarter but Euro 2012 failed to provide the previously predicted major sales increases, according to a report published by Browary Polskie, reports Parkiet.

During Euro 2012 sales were up a mere 1.8 percent, much less than expected. However May saw a 19 percent y/y increase, with the good weather and the pre-tournament hype the key factors in encouraging people to drink more beer, according to Robert Priday, CEO of Kompania Piwowarska.

In total Polish breweries sold 19 million hectoliters of beer during the first half of the year, 7.9 percent more than H1 2011. The industry estimates that the second half of the year will see a lower dynamic, but that 2012 should end with 4 percent higher y/y sales.

However, higher sales do not necessarily mean higher profit as an increasing market inevitably means decreasing prices. In 2011 the average price of a liter of beer in Poland was zł.5.17. This is compared to zł.5.27 in 2009.

Poland A.M.