San Miguel Corp, Southeast Asia's largest food and beverage firm, said on October 3 its group-wide operating income hit 7.47 billion pesos ($136 million) in January to August, a slight dip from a year ago, as it braced for more growth in coming months, under a Reuters report. The Philippine company, owned 15 % by Japan's Kirin Brewery Co Ltd, recorded consolidated operating income of 7.6 billion pesos in the first eight months of 2002.

Company-wide sales climbed 11 % to 96.8 billion pesos in the same eight months to August and the firm expected further growth, particularly in its beer business, with the SARS virus now contained. "With the SARS problem now in check, the recovery (in international beer sales) is expected to continue in the coming months," the company said in a statement. San Miguel posted a worse-than-expected 10 % drop in its second-quarter profit on a year earlier, after the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome cut into beer consumption in its main overseas markets -- Hong Kong and China.

The company said its international beer sales in July and August alone rose 12 % from the same period last as consumption in Hong Kong and South China rebounded. San Miguel's beer sales volume overseas fell 4 % in the first half. Operating profit of the company's local beer business climbed 24 % to 3.76 billion pesos in the first eight months, sustaining the growth rate it recorded in the first half.

03 October, 2003