By Mark Potter

LONDON (Reuters) - Global brewer SABMiller (SAB.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said annual results would be at the upper end of its expectations as price increases and favourable currency moves offset higher costs and slowing volume growth.

The maker of Miller Lite, Peroni and Castle beers said on Wednesday that lager volumes, excluding acquisitions, rose just 1 percent in the last quarter of its financial year, which ended on March 31, trimming growth for the full year to 7 percent.

However, Chief Financial Officer Malcolm Wyman said the fourth quarter was held back by bad weather, strong comparative results in the same period the year before and the impact of price rises across the brewing industry, particularly in China.

"Because inflation (in China) has been running at reasonably high rates, the brewers have all decided to take price (increases) in order to recover inflation and input costs," he told Reuters.

He said this had hit volume growth, but that the rise in prices had ensured profits remained healthy and predicted that volume growth would recover in the coming quarters.

"We see for a quarter or two, perhaps, an impact in China, and then (volumes) picking up again," he said in a telephone interview. "This is generally the same in all emerging markets."

SABMiller (SABJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) said its underlying performance for the year ended March 31 had been at the upper end of its expectations, but declined to say what these expectations were.

Analysts are currently forecasting earnings per share before goodwill and one-off items of $1.36 cents, within a range of $1.32 to $1.43, according to a Reuters Estimates poll of 16.