London

HEINEKEN NV and Carlsberg A/S, the world's third- and fourth-largest brewers, forecast higher profits this year, in projections fuelled by markets such as the US and Asia, even as they prepare to face a bigger competitor from Anheuser-Busch InBev NV's planned purchase of SABMiller plc.

Sales and profit will rise in 2016, even with an "increasingly challenging external environment", the Amsterdam-based Heineken said in a statement. Carlsberg forecast operating profit will rise by a low single-digit percentage on an organic basis, as the Copenhagen-based brewer reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analysts' estimates.