Brewer reports rise in beer sales

Beer volumes in Latin America, which represents around 32 per cent of profit, grew by four per cent, down from eight per cent in the same period a year ago with the firm reporting weaker consumer sentiment in recent months.

The Miller Lite, Grolsch and Peroni maker, which earns 70 per cent of its profit from fast-growing emerging markets, also reported an eight per cent rise in organic, constant currency group revenue in the six months to September.

Including acquisitions and disposals, total volumes were up nine per cent.

The four per cent underlying quarterly rise in beer volumes, after stripping out the effects of acquisitions, matched an analyst consensus forecast of four per cent and follows a five per cent volume rise in its first quarter.

The brewer, which also makes Castle, Snow, Pilsner Urquell and Aguila beers, said that quarterly underlying volumes rose six per cent in Africa, five per cent in Asia-Pacific, and one per cent in South Africa.

In Europe, lager volumes rose by nine per cent helped by selective price reductions, with the Euro 2012 soccer tournament boosting Polish beer sales, and demand for its Peroni brand pushing up domestic volumes by five per cent in the UK.

The brewer, which has expanded rapidly over the past two decades from its South African roots, added that its recently-acquired Foster’s Australian business suffered a 13 per cent dip in volume.

The decline was partly because of the termination of some licensed brands after SABMiller’s purchase of Foster’s in December 2011.

Soft drinks volumes were six per cent higher year-on-year on an organic basis.