KUALA LUMPUR (March 12): Brewery stocks advanced on Tuesday morning over a report of a price hike of up to 6.2% effective April 1.

At 10.33am, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd's share price rose 14 sen or 0.54% to RM25.88 while Heineken Malaysia Bhd gained 8 sen or 0.35% to RM22.90.

Both counters were among Bursa Malaysia's top gainers in the morning session.

The Edge Financial Daily today reported that, for the new price list,  Heineken has raised the prices of some of its products — per pack — by between 3% and 5%, while Carlsberg has increased the prices of some products between 3% and 6.2%.

"This price hike will be the first since Heineken and Carlsberg raised their prices after the reintroduction of sales and service tax on Sept 1 last year.

"The brewers said the higher prices are due to the continued escalation of prices of raw materials and packaging," said the daily.