LONDON (ShareCast) - UK beverage stocks were slightly lower on Wednesday after a gloomy update from Dutch brewing giant Heineken which blamed recent bad weather in Europe for a drop in third-quarter sales.
Heineken, famous for its eponymous brand and other drinks such as Strongbow, John Smith's and Kronenbourg, unveiled a worse-than-expected 1.5% fall in sales to €5.1bn as rain kept drinkers out of Europe's beer gardens.

However, sales improved more markedly in its Asia Pacific, African and Middle East and Americas markets. Nevertheless, Heineken's shares were 0.7% lower in Amsterdam.

London-listed brewer SABMiller, which owns the Peroni and Grolsch brands of beer, was down 0.4% in afternoon trade.

SAB had its takeover offer for Heineken rejected last month after the Dutch group deemed the proposal "non-actionable".

Meanwhile, SAB itself has been at the centre of takeover speculation over recent months amid rumours that larger Belgian-Brazilian rival Anheuser-Busch Inbev could be considering a merger of the world's two-largest brewers.

The UK firm revealed last month that net producer revenue growth on a constant-currency basis slowed to just 3% in the second quarter, from 6% in the first.

Guinness and Smirnoff maker Diageo also fell 0.7% on Wednesday, joined in the red by smaller peer C&C Group, the Ireland-based firm responsible for the Magners, Bulmers and Blackthorn brands of cider, which declined 0.3%.

Top performing sectors so far today

Chemicals 9,714.80 +2.36%
Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,019.59 +1.87%
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 12,096.09 +1.85%
Financial Services 7,691.98 +1.75%
Insurance (non-life) 1,862.06 +1.66%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Tobacco 38,100.84 -2.72%
Food & Drug Retailers 2,594.51 -1.59%
Automobiles & Parts 7,280.74 -0.51%
Beverages 13,766.07 -0.49%
Mining 15,640.57 -0.40%

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