The Philippine food and drink group, San Miguel, has posted that its beer sales rose 12% in the first quarter of the current year due to the strong demand for its products. "Our beer unit posted volume sales of 23.6 million cases in the first two months and revenue of PHP4.8 billion, up by 10% and 12%, respectively, over the previous year's level," the company said in a disclosure to the stock exchange.

It said it expects March volumes to have exceeded the average for the first two months of the year, with sales of 7 billion pesos or better for the quarter.