Carlsberg’s profits for the first quarter of 2014 are considerably down compared to the first quarter of 2013, according to its quarterly financial statement.

The first quarter profits for the brewery giant were 78 million kroner, down from 226 million kroner last year, despite increased revenue growth of three percent to 12.9 billion kroner.

The unstable geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe was largely to blame, but faltering results in Asia also reduced the profit margin.

Russian blues
“The western European business continued its strong performance, while results in eastern Europe were impacted by the uncertain macro situation,” Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen, the head of Carlsberg, said in a press release.

Furthermore, in Russia, the largest market in eastern Europe, Carlsberg’s results were also influenced by a new Russian law that forbids the sale of beer in kiosks and general declining financial growth in the country, including a devalued Russian ruble.

Carlsberg expects that its annual financial results will be more negatively affected than initially expected.