Anheuser-Busch InBev recorded a 2.7% drop in UK volumes in the past year.
The company has announced that it is to move ahead with a $7bn (£4.9bn) asset disposal plan as it tries to cut costs following the $52bn merger last year.
It said synergies from the acquisition would be higher than expected, reaching $2.25bn instead of the $1.5bn originally expected, as it reported a 5.2% rise in group underlying sales growth for 2008.
It said the launch of Stella Artois 4% in the UK had resulted in only marginal canibalisation of regular Stella sales.
Becks Vier also saw double digit volume growth but the company said that fourth quarter volumes were down 3.4% last year.
It has already sold a 20% stake in Chinese brewer Tsingtao to Japan’s Asahi this year, raising $667m, and raised $100m from selling the US brewing and distribution business of Labatt, its Canadian beer brand.
