COPENHAGEN (AFP) - Danish brewing giant Carlsberg upgraded its 2010 forecasts on Tuesday after reporting strong second quarter profits on the back of a stellar performance in Asia and an improvement in Russia.

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Carlsberg, ranked fourth in the world, said its three months to June net profit soared 35.7 percent from a year earlier to 2.63 billion kroner (353 million euros, 453 million dollars).

Sales rose just two percent to 17.97 billion kroner overall after a gain of 42 percent in Asia helped offset a fall of five percent in Europe, its main market, to 10.19 billion kroner.

Carlsberg said it now expected 2010 net profit to rise by some 40 percent from last year's 4.16 billion kroner, revised up from the previous estimate for a 20 percent gain.

The brewer's shares were up 2.1 percent in early trade in Copenhagen where the broader market rose 0.2 percent.

For the six months to June, the company reported a net profit of 3.40 billion kroner, up 74.2 percent even as sales fell 1.6 percent to 28.94 billion kroner, reflecting a difficult first half.