On Wednesday, Anheuser Busch InBev NV witnessed much better than expected performance during the first quarter.

The company's net profit jumped to $2.68 billion in the three months to end-March from $1.37 billion in the same period a year ago. Shares in the brewer of Stella Artois and Budweiser are up 3.53% to _108.5.

Better sales of its more expensive brands helped to compensate weak US demand for the group's beers and the impact of a strong dollar on revenue from the rest of its global beer empire.

The brewer booked a gain of $757 million on derivatives used to hedge the price of shares it hands out as compensation to employees.

The company's revenue fell slightly to $10.45 billion from $10.61 billion a year ago. Sales in the US were also weak, as the company had built up stocks ahead of negotiations with labor unions a year ago.

For years, the brewer has been struggling to adjust to changing tastes in the US as consumers have been preferring prefer craft beers over AB InBev's mass-market lagers.

Felipe Dutra, AB InBev's Chief Financial Officer said the decline in Budweiser's market share was slowed down by the major advertising campaigns this year.

Mr. Dutra said, "We have a long way to go to stabilize the share of Budweiser, but the year is off to a good start. Budweiser's sales outside the U. S. have continued to rise, fueled by strong demand in China, Brazil and even the troubled Russian market".

Beer volumes sold in Brazil, AB InBev's second-largest market, rose around 1%, despite the country's shaky economy.