UPDATE 3-Carlsberg sees return of Russian thirst for beer

* Q1 operating profit 1.00 bln crowns vs 1.01 bln forecast

* Keeps 2011 outlook unchanged

* Sees Russia market growth of 2-4 percent in 2011

* Share up 3.4 pct, hit near-record high

(Adds details, CEO, analyst quotes, share price)

By Mette Fraende

COPENHAGEN, May 11 (Reuters) - Danish brewer Carlsberg A/S (CARLb.CO) said a recovery in east European demand helped drive a 38 percent rise in first-quarter profits, endorsing its emerging market focus and sending its shares to a near-record high.

The brewer met forecasts on Wednesday as its biggest market returned to growth and said it expected Russian beer volume to grow between 2 and 4 percent this year.

"We see that the Russian economy and the Russian consumer is doing better and better, and that is positive for our business," Chief Executive Jorgen Buhl Rasmussen told Reuters.

"From mid-2010 we started to see an improvement in the Russian economy. The Russian consumer is doing better and is more ready to spend again," Rasmussen said. "Russia has emerged a lot faster from the economic crisis than western Europe."

Carlsberg shares traded up 3.4 percent by 1019 GMT, outperforming the STOXX Europe 600 food and beverage index .SX3P which rose 0.5 percent. The stock rose as high as 617 crowns, its highest since a record peak set just over three years ago.

"It is nice to see another quarter of improvement (in Russia) and people appreciate that, unless something goes wrong, Russia is back to growth," said SP Equity Research analyst Carl Short.

The Russian market, which accounts for about 40 percent of Carlsberg's total beer volume, grew an estimated 1 percent in the first quarter. Northern and western Europe account for about 40 percent of Carlsberg's total beer sales and Asia 20 percent.

Last month, Dutch rival Heineken NV (HEIN.AS) also reported a rebound in Russian beer consumption from a year ago and said beer sales had grown in all regions of the world. [ID:nLL631571]

Both brewer's first-quarter results reflected a recovery from destocking in the Russian market last year, when excise duty on beer was tripled.

"The large rise in volume and sales in the first quarter is not a trend which we will see for the rest of the year," Rasmussen said.

RISING INPUT COSTS LURK

Carlsberg's total beer volumes grew 28 percent organically in eastern Europe and, adjusted for destocking in Russia in the first quarter last year, organic volume growth for the region would have been an estimated 6 percent, it said.

The Asia region reported 6 percent organic beer volume growth for the quarter, while beer markets in northern and western Europe declined overall.

The brewer's first-quarter operating profit rose to 1.00 billion Danish crowns ($187 million), in line with a 1.01 billion forecast in a Reuters poll. [ID:nLDE7451LJ]

Sales rose 14 percent to 12.5 billion, compared with a forecast 12.3 billion.

"Carlsberg's sales were about 3 percent higher than both the market and we had expected. It was both eastern Europe and Asia which surprised positively," Analyst Jens Thomsen at Jyske Bank said.

While last year's destocking in Russia helped first-quarter profits upwards, a continued climb in input costs weighed on the results. Rising raw materials prices are challenging the world's brewers, who are looking to compensate by passing higher costs on to drinkers.

The futures price for malt barley EOBc1 is more than 50 percent higher than a year ago.

"As a group, our total input costs will grow by a mid single-digit percentage," Rasmussen said. "That is driven to a large extend by two factors which are primarily barley, and partly packaging materials costs." (Editing by Dan Lalor and David Holmes) ($1 = 5.337 Danish crowns)