Dutch brewer Heineken Wednesday reported a steep drop in beer sales in the third quarter, driven by a sharp decline in the United States and Europe and a "challenging" economy.

The Amsterdam-based firm, the world's second-largest brewer after AB InBev, predicted its profits for the year would likely come towards the bottom end of its forecasts given the difficult conditions.

Heineken said it sold 59.0 million hectolitres of beer worldwide in the third quarter.

This was down on the 62.3 million sold in the second quarter, and also lower than the 61.9 million in the third quarter of last year.

Analysts surveyed by the company had expected total global beer volumes of 59.2 million hectolitres.

"Macroeconomic volatility persisted as anticipated and became more pronounced in the third quar

See Full Page