Sales Of Beer Go Flat In Emerging Economies

Beer sales in emerging economies are cooling, sapping a key source of profit growth. The abrupt weakness, especially in Eastern Europe, is putting pressure on brewers' profits and could accelerate consolidation in an industry that has seen several multibillion-dollar deals in the past few years.

Beer titans ratcheted up investments in emerging markets in recent years, partly to offset weakness in mature markets such as North America and Western Europe.