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SABMiller Full-year Lager Sales Volume Up 2 Pct

The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — SABMiller PLC, the brewer of Grolsch, Miller Genuine Draft and Peroni Nastro Azzurro lagers, said Thursday that the volume of lager sales increased 2 percent in the year ending March 31 despite a drop in the final quarter as the global economy slowed.

Group revenue was up in the high single digits, and full year results are expected to be in line with guidance despite unfavorable currency fluctuations in the second half of the year, the company said in a trading update.

Soft drink volumes — essentially sales to distributors — were up 5 percent, said the company, which is one of the world's largest bottlers of Coca-Cola.

Lager volume in Europe was flat, while volume in the United States was down 0.4 percent in the nine months to March 31, with an increase of 0.4 percent in the January-March quarter, the company said.

Africa and Asia reported a 4 percent gain in lager volume for the year.

SABMiller will release preliminary full-year results on May 14.

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