SANTIAGO, Chile, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Chile's leading brewer CCU Q4 reported a 5.4 percent increase in preliminary fourth-quarter sales volumes compared with the same period last year.

The company, which operates mainly in Chile and Argentina, said in a statement it sold 3.238 million hectolitres in the fourth quarter. The figures include beer and wine sales in markets and soft drinks, nectar juices and mineral water in Chile.

In Chile, volumes rose 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter year-on-year and 1.8 percent for the year while in Argentina quarterly volumes jumped 26.1 percent and annual volumes were up 5.8 percent. CCU said it would release its fourth quarter-consolidated results in the first week of February.

The company posted a 60.8 percent drop in its nine-month profit to September 2002 year-on-year to 10.582 billion pesos. CCU's operations in Argentina were hard-hit last year by the Argentine financial crisis.

09 January, 2003