SABMiller suffered a 1.6% fall in first-quarter underlying beer volumes, it announced yesterday.
As a result shares in the London-based maker of Miller Lite, Peroni and Pilsner Urquell fell 3.4 % to £10.66.
The brewer also reported a 7% increase in underlying volumes for its financial year to end-March 2008.
SABMiller is the world's largest brewer by beer volume, but will lose that crown when InBev's deal to buy Anheuser-Busch is completed later this year.
In South Africa, its biggest profit centre with 28% of earnings, beer volumes fell 3% reflecting the loss of its Amstel licence in March 2007 and softer consumer demand.
In Europe, volumes rose 1% as growth in Poland and Romania was offset by a fall in Russia and the Czech Republic. In Africa and Asia, volumes were off 4% with China down 5% hit by disruption after the Sichuan earthquake.
SAB Miller added overall beer volumes for its April-June quarter grew 1.5% and group revenue growth remained firm, while its financial performance for the quarter was in line with its own expectations.
The brewer was giving a routine first-quarter trading update ahead of its annual shareholders' meeting.
