June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Cervecerias Unidas SA, Chile's biggest brewery, said that it began selling Heineken NV's Heineken-brand beer in Chile and Argentina, in a bid to bolster profit by selling higher-priced beer.

Santiago, Chile-based Cervecerias, said in a statement sent by e-mail that it will produce and sell the brand following Heineken's purchase in April of a 50 percent stake of a holding company that controls the brewer.

Cervecerias has acquired since last year higher-priced brands, like its Austral brand and Heineken, to help compensate for declining beer prices in Chile, its biggest market, analysts said. All the same, its sales of Heineken may not begin to boost revenue this year, said Juan Carlos Tali, an analyst at brokerage BBVA Corredores de Bolsa BHIF.

``Heineken doesn't have much of the market, so it won't have an impact in the short-term'' on sales, he said.

Shares of Santiago, Chile-based Cervecerias rose for a second day, adding 25 pesos, or 1.1 percent, to 2,275 pesos ($3.2) in trading in Santiago at 3:59 p.m. New York time.

Sluggish demand for beer in Chile, and the government's plan to increase sales taxes, may curb profit growth this year at Cervecerias, Tali said.

First-quarter profit tripled to 32.6 billion pesos from 10.6 billion pesos after the company sold a Croatian brewery.

Operating profit fell 11 percent to 15.3 billion pesos, in part as profit from sales of beer in Chile declined.

Amsterdam, Netherland's based Heineken and Chile's Luksic family business group together own Inversiones y Rentas SA, a holding company that in turn controls almost 62 percent of the brewer.

Last Updated: June 25, 2003 16:02 EDT