Anheuser-Busch InBev sees profits rise

Stella Artois is one of the firm's biggest-selling brands

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, made a $1.28bn (£850m) profit in the last quarter of 2009.

That was significantly higher than the $29m profit it made in the last three months of 2008 when it faced high costs linked to InBev's takeover of Anheuser.

The group, whose brands include Stella Artois and Becks said the integration was now "essentially complete".

The brewer has made a series of cost cuts to cope with falling beer sales in the global downturn.

In January it said it was to cut 800 jobs across western Europe.

Revenues in the quarter rose 3.7% to $9.3bn.

'Resilient'

"Anheuser-Busch Inbev closed 2009 on a positive note," the group said in a statement.

For the whole of 2009, profit rose to $4.6bn from $1.9bn in 2008.

The group, which also makes Budweiser, added that global demand for beer remained "relatively resilient", despite the weakness in global economies, and said that it was the market leader in the US and Brazil.