Nigeria's Heineken unit Q1 pretax profit falls 2 pct

A plastic container with empty bottles of Heineken beers are pictured among beer kegs outside a restaurant in Singapore August 29, 2012. REUTERS/Tim Chong

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigerian Breweries, a unit of Dutch brewer Heineken, said on Friday its first quarter pre-tax profit fell 2 percent to 14.43 billion naira ($73 million) from a year ago. The brewer's gross earnings however rose to 69.92 billion naira in the period to end-March from 68.97 billion naira a year ago, it said in a statement without giving a reason for the weaker profit. ($1 = 199 naira)