Brewer SABMiller Full-year Profit Down 7 Pct

JANE WARDELL

LONDON (AP) — SABMiller PLC, brewer of Grolsch and Peroni Nastro Azzurro lagers, posted a 7 percent fall in full-year net profit after the economic downturn escalated, adding on Thursday that there "remains little visibility" about the timing of a recovery in consumer demand.

The world's No. 2 brewer said it would scale back costs and investment — but also underscored its plans to invest selectively by announcing it planned to acquire the outstanding 28.1 percent minority stake in its Polish subsidiary, Kompania Piwowarska S.A., from Kulczyk Holding S.A. in a deal worth $1.1 billion.

SABMiller reported a net profit of 1.88 billion pounds ($2.84 billion) for the year to March 31, down from 2.02 billion pounds a year earlier. Revenue fell about 9 percent to 18.7 billion pounds.

MillerCoors, SABMiller's joint venture in the U.S. and Puerto Rico with Molson Coors Brewing Co. created in July, had a good start though volumes were down in the first nine months of operation, the company said.

MillerCoors sales to wholesalers fell 1.9 percent on a pro forma basis — which estimates what its performance would have been if it had been operational for the full year. Sales to retailers were down 0.4 percent.