Bud brewer InBev :sales and profit grew

The world's leading brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev said on Wednesday its third-quarter net profit rose roughly in line with market forecasts as sales posted a modest advance. The company said three months to September net profit rose to $1.59 billion (1.16 billion euros), up from the year-earlier $1.43 billion and compared with analyst forecasts for earnings of $1.60 billion. Sales increased 3.6 percent to $10.22 billion while operating profit gained 5.5 percent to $3.97 billion, topping analyst forecasts for $3.80 billion. AB InBev said the improved results reflected higher sales volumes in Brazil, China and Argentina but noted a fall of 3.4 percent in the US market, reflecting weak consumer confidence. Sales in Russia meanwhile were down 9.9 percent, reflecting a very strong performance a year earlier. AB Inbev said it expected continued volume growth in the fourth quarter, especially in Brazil and hoped for efficiency gains in market and sales costs. The firm, created in 2008 by the $52 billion merger of Belgian-Brasilian Inbev and US firm Anheuser-Busch (AB), said in March that it expected sales to pick up in the second half of 2011.