the officials blamed sluggish sales of beer kirin's main product.hey say a big reason was a delay in rolling out its higher-priced premium brands. but it wasn't all bad news in japan's beer industry. kirin's rival, asahi group holdings, had a lot more success with its premium beers. asahi credited the brand's sales for record high operating profit of about $1 billion. sales came in at about $15 billion, which is another record high. and 2014 was a profitable year for e-commerce joint rakuten too. the company posted year on-year increases in both profits and sales. rakuten executives say group operating income rose nearly 18% to about $890 million. they say group sales also grew by more than 15% to $5 billion. the executives say strong performance of their mainstay online shopping operations helped to boost the figures. financial services such as credit cards, they were also solid. the executives say they also managed to cut deficits in their overseas e-book business through cost-cutting. more for you in business next hour. i'll leave you with a chec

suntory holdings which has been aggressive in it's activities finally grabbed the number one spot from kirin holdings. ironically they were discussing a merger which fell through the following year. but back in 2009 sales were actually much bigger by roughly $6 billion but over the past five years they spent $18 billion on m and a including the u.s. spirits producer beam. sales rose 20% to $20.4 billion and worldwide sales make up 36% of the revenue which is up by 70% thanks to soft drink sales in europe. and suntory's president says that suntory aims to become the global whisky leader by 2020. that's all. back to you. >> thank you very much. now it's fat tuesday in new orleans and the big easy is set for a big party. but will bad weather dampen spirits? let's get out to jay grey live for us in new orleans. have to say. you get the best assignments. you go from super bowl to mardi gras in new orleans. you definitely have a good pipeline ahead. >> i'm a given. i'm somebody that sacrifices for the good of the rest of us. take a look down bourbon street. very early in the morning here. it's bee