London, Oct 14 - Brewer SABMiller reported a 1 percent rise in second-quarter worldwide underlying beer volumes on Tuesday, showing half-year (April-September) volumes marginally ahead after a 1.6 percent fall in its first quarter.
The London-based brewer of Miller Lite, Peroni, Castle and Snow beers also said deteriorating global economic conditions, weakening consumer demand and volatile exchange rates made prospects for the rest of the financial year increasingly uncertain.
SABMiller is facing higher input costs for barley, aluminium and glass and slowing consumption in its key markets, although analysts say the group is focused on profitability rather than the pursuit of sales and market share.
Its two main markets, South Africa and Colombia, which produce around 40 percent of group profits, were both hit by high inflation and interest rates with the first seeing half-year volumes off 1 percent and the second down 3 percent.
The sharp fall of many of SABMiller's key currencies against the dollar has prompted recent earnings downgrades, but analysts say it may gain as cost savings from U.S. joint venture MillerCoors start to flow and cost pressure starts to abate.
SABMiller is the world's largest brewer by volume, but will lose that crown when InBev's $52 billion deal to buy Budweiser-brewer Anheuser-Busch completes later this year.
SABMiller shares have dipped from a high of 12.55 pounds on Sept. 19 to close on Monday at 970p in line with the FTSE 100 but underperforming the DJ Euro food and beverage industry by 7 percent.