Leading brewer SABMiller's lager volumes in Zimbabwe were 18 percent lower in the full year to March 31, 2013.

In a trading update this morning, SABMiller attributed the constrained performance of its lager business to depressed economic conditions in the country during the period under review.

"Soft economic conditions persisted in Zimbabwe, resulting in lager volumes declining by 18 percent," said SABMiller.

However, Zimbabwe contributed to a 6 percent bump in brewer's soft drinks volumes.

"Soft drinks volume growth of 6 percent reflected good performances in Zimbabwe, Ghana and Zambia, and by our associate Castle."

SABMiller plc is one of the world's leading brewers and the group's portfolio includes global brands such as Pilsner Urquell, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Miller Genuine Draft and Grolsch; as well as leading local brands such as Aguila (Colombia), Castle (South Africa), Miller Lite (USA), Snow (China), Victoria Bitter (Australia) and Tyskie (Poland).

SABMiller also has growing soft drinks businesses and is one of the world's largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products.

The world's second largest brewer said it continued to produce "top line" profit growth in the year ended March this year despite tough operating conditions in the fourth quarter in some markets.

"The combination of our global overview and deep local insights enables us to fine tune our operations in each market and to deliver commercial progress which underpins our confidence in our ability to deliver higher revenue growth in the longer term," said CEO Alan Clark a statement accompanying the trading update.

SABMiller said total net producer revenue (NPR) for the year to March this year, surged 3 percent while beverage volumes gained 2 percent.

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