UPDATE 3-AB InBev sees Q4 profit growth, improved volume
* Q3 core profit up 11.9 pct, more than expected
* Q3 revenue down 0.4 pct, worse than expected
* Forecasts similar year-on-year growth in Q4
* Q3 volumes down 3.2 pct, says Q4 will be better
* Shares little changed after lower opening
(Updates after conference calls with share price, adds graphic)
BRUSSELS, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR), the world's top brewer, grew quarterly core earnings by slightly more than expected thanks to cost cuts and higher prices, and forecast a similar profit rise in the last three months.
A year after its creation from Belgian InBev's takeover of U.S. rival Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck's said on Thursday prices, lower input costs and merger savings enabled it to offset a 3.2 percent fall in volumes.
It said cost of sales per hectolitre would dip this year, better than its previous forecast of flat to a slight increase, and that the year-on-year volume comparison would be healthier in October to December, although not necessarily positive.
AB InBev shares, which have roughly doubled this year, were 0.3 percent lower at 32.00 euros at 1510 GMT, compared with a 0.2 percent drop of the DJ STOXX European food and beverage index .SX3P.
Trevor Stirling, analyst at Bernstein Research, said the shares' weakness was from an early perception of softness in the numbers. Revenues were lower than expected.
"There were a lot of little things, some non-recurring, nothing fundamental," he said.
Gerard Rijk, analyst at ING in Amsterdam, said revenues were weaker than expected, core profit stronger and the fourth-quarter forecast "comforting".
KBC Securities analyst Wim Hoste cut his rating to "hold" from "accumulate", arguing the shares were no longer cheap.
