Dive Brief

• SABMiller reported higher than expected earnings in the first half of the fiscal year on strong growth in Africa and Latin America.
• The world's second-largest brewer warned, however, that the depreciation of foreign currencies such as the South African rand would hurt results for the full year.
• ​The maker of 150 global brands including Miller Light, said sales fell slightly in North America and Europe. 

Dive Insight:

There's nothing particularly surprising in today's earnings report, but that are two things worth worrying about. First, as expected, sales fell in the U.S. as Americans seemingly lose their tastes for the beers of an earlier generation. But the company managed to boost profits domestically by cutting costs. Second, SABMiller is one of a growing number of companies hinting that currency devaluation are about to bring them problems. That has us worried that SABMiller will have to trim costs further in the U.S. when those overseas sales aren't valuable enough to offset domestic losses.