BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch InBev (BR:ABI), the world's largest beer maker, reported a lower than expected increase of earnings in the third quarter as U.S. wholesalers cut inventories and Brazil was stagnant after the football World Cup.
The maker of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona said on Friday that overall beer volumes fell by 2.7 percent in the July-Sept period, with declines in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
AB InBev reported a 1.3 percent like-for-like rise in third-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to $4.75 billion. The average forecast of a Reuters poll of nine analysts was $5.00 billion (3.13 billion pounds).
The brewer, which sold more than one in five beers drunk worldwide last year, said this was because of lower sales in the United States, its largest market, flat volumes and limited price hikes in Brazil and limited cost savings in Mexico - just $10 million. This compared to over $200 million of savings in the same period last year.
"We believe that the third quarter was a one-off in terms of EBITDA performance, and is not reflective of expected future trends for the business," the company said.
The market leader in the United States, Brazil and Mexico, three of the four beer markets generating the most profits, did however benefit from Chinese consumers trading up to its premium brands, Harbin and Budweiser, pushing core profit there up 20 percent.
By contrast, there was little volume growth in Brazil, partly a flatting off after the football World Cup, and weakness in Europe, in the east due to the Russia/Ukraine crisis and in the west due to a very wet August, normally a key drinking month.
It repeated its view that volume trends would improve in the United States and that volumes in Brazil and Mexico would return to growth this year. The company suffered declining sales last year in all regions but Asia-Pacific.
Dutch brewer Heineken (AS:HEIN) last week reported lower than expected third-quarter sales due to the wet summer in Europe.
The world's top brewers are relying on Latin America, Asia and Africa for growth amid subdued consumer spending in slowly recovering Europe and limited U.S. expansion.
Still, even developing world consumers drink less when it rains, as Heineken found out last quarter in Nigeria and SABMiller in central provinces of China when it reported lower volumes.
(Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop)