London - Heineken is hoping the Rugby World Cup and the new James Bond film, Spectre, will lead to more Brits guzzling its drinks this year.
The world's third-largest brewer said partnering on the next Bond instalment, starring Daniel Craig and Monica Bellucci, was among an “exciting pipeline of campaigns” for 2015.
Bond was seen sipping the beer in his previous outing, Skyfall, and can be expected to trade his usual Martini for a lager in Spectre, due to be released in October.
Heineken said on Monday it had benefited from its sponsorship of the Uefa Champions League football in a “solid” first half of the year. This helped to soften the blow of weaker sales in central and eastern Europe.
However, a spike in sales of brands such as Desperados and Sol Premium helped revenues climb nearly 7 percent to €9.9bn (£7bn).
Net profit jumped to €1.1bn from €631m.
THE INDEPENDENT