San Miguel Corp, Southeast Asia's biggest food and beverage group, is likely to post solid profits in the fourth quarter to cap a decent 2002. In the Philippines, San Miguel is synonymous with beer for its utter dominance of 90 percent of its home market.

Its A shares leapt nearly 40 percent last year before easing in recent weeks.

But analysts cautioned against reading too much into the October to December numbers when San Miguel reports its 2002 results on Thursday, as its fourth-quarter profit usually reflects adjustments from previous quarters.

San Miguel has said it expects to meet its full-year net profit target of about seven billion pesos ($130 million), with consolidated revenue likely to have risen 16 percent from 2001.

10 February, 2003