Budweiser, Beck's and Stella Artois said on Wednesday that volumes declined in its two biggest markets, the United States and Brazil, with the only marked increase in China.Volumes as a whole dropped 1.2 percent on a like-for-like basis, but revenue increased by 3.9 percent.
Second-quarter core profit (EBITDA) rose 5.8 percent on a like-for-like basis to $3.90 billion. That compared with the $3.78 billion figure expected in a Reuters poll of 11 brokers and banks.
In the United States, where the company has almost half the beer market, earnings growth was driven by a price hike at the end of last year and a shift to its new products, including 6 percent lager Bud Light Platinum and margarita-flavored Bud Light Lime Lima-a-Rita.
In Brazil, where it has two-thirds of the market, AB InBev suffered a second consecutive quarter of declining volumes, although the Confederations Cup soccer tournament and better weather meant the fall was not as marked as in the first three months of 2013.
In April, AB InBev cut its outlook for sales in Brazil, its second biggest market, due to poor weather, an early Carnival and high food inflation, saying volume growth for the year would be flat or down by a low single-digit percentage.
It retained that forecast, although last year's price increase, higher premium lager sales and more own distribution meant earnings grew.
The world's top brewers are relying on emerging markets for growth amid a prolonged squeeze on consumer incomes in austerity-hit Europe and limited U.S. expansion. But bad weather and tax-led price hikes have posed challenges recently.
SABMiller (SAB.L), the world's number two brewer, last week reported a surprise drop in lager volumes in the April-June period due to a cold and damp spring in Europe and a cooler build-up to summer in the United States.
