SABMiller reports slower Chinese growth China, the world's biggest beer market, has generated slower growth and thinner margins for SABMiller - a reversal in fortunes that the UK-listed brewer, which co-owns China's number one brewery, attributes partly to the Chinese leadership transition earlier this month. SABMiller said its share of the lager market had fallen in a handful of China's provinces during the three months to September 30, including Sichuan - which had been its most profitable province until last year. Across China, group revenues per hectolitre nudged up 2 per cent. However, operating margins decreased on the back of intensifying competition, which raised the cost of securing shelf space in bars and shops. "We think it was affected more by competitive dynamics and the political transition - in the sense that everyone, from officials to consumers, are a bit uncertain, as they always are [at times of change]," claimed Graham Mackay, executive chairman of SABMiller. At such times, he said, "they believe in money under the mattress." But the brewer shrugged off the slowdown in China - which, with its super-cheap beer prices, punches well below its volume weight on the bottom line - to trump market expectations with its interim results. For the six months to the end of September, SABMiller reported an 8 per cent year-on-year rise in revenues to $17.5bn, on a constant currency basis and excluding acquisitions. Earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (ebita) rose 9 per cent on the same organic basis to $3.2bn. This was SABMiller's first set of results to fully include Foster's of Australia, which added some $350m or so of ebita. The Foster's deal ruffled some feathers among investors as it increased exposure to mature markets - although 70 per cent of SABMiller's sales still come from the emerging world. Foster's also lost contracts to brew four licensed brands after it changed hands. Analysts broadly applauded the results and the shares rose 6.38 per cent to £28.01 on Thursday. Adjusted earnings per share at the halfway stage rose 14 per cent to 118.8 cents. The company proposes an interim dividend of 24 cents, up 12 per cent year-on-year. For SABMiller - the world's second largest brewer by sales - Latin America and Africa continued to drive profits. In the six-month period, Latin America was the biggest contributor to ebita with $920m, up 14 per cent. Africa contributed $355m, up 19 per cent. In Europe, ebita fell 5 per cent but it remains the second biggest source of profit. SABMiller said its strategy of dropping prices in Poland and Romania earlier this year had helped, but its medium-term objective was to increase market share.