Tuesday, SABMiller PLC (SBMRY) posted a forecast-beating rise in third-quarter lager volumes, boosted by its emerging markets operations in Africa and Asia.

Continued improvement in economic conditions in many of our upcoming markets assisted our volume performance, the company said in a statement

The second-biggest brewer of the world by volume after Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI. BT) is increasing investment in its brands to take advantage from improved economic conditions across its growth economies where it generates more than eighty percent of its profits.

The maker of Peroni, Grolsch and Nastro Azzuro, and Miller Lite also said on Tuesday its financial performance was in line with its expectations.

Lager volumes for the quarter that ended on Dec. 31 2010 rose three percent on an organic basis, which excludes takeovers and disposals, beating market expectations for a 1.7% rise. The hike represents a year-on-year improvement from flat volumes, but a slowdown from the second quarter when lager volumes rose four percent due to weak comparables and a strong performance in China. In the quarter, volumes of soft drink saw an increase of five percent.

Group revenue in the Third-quarter on an organic, constant currency basis went up by six percent while group revenue per hectoliter hiked by three percent on a nine-month basis, lager volumes were up two percent and soft drink volumes rose three percent on a yearly basis.

In Africa, third-quarter lager volumes soared by twelve percent as investment in capacity and expansion of its brand portfolio delivered "robust growth," the company stated. South Africa volumes rose three percent driven by sales of flagship brands, while volumes in Asia also rose twelve percent and China were up by sixteen percent.

Still, Latin America, which has been another important growth area for the brewer, saw lager volumes fall one per cent including a five percent dip in Columbia which was hit by sales tax pressures and flooding.