Foster's sees tough U.S. wine market

MELBOURNE, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Foster's Group Ltd (FGL.AX: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's second-largest wine company, said on Tuesday a small increase in U.S. wine industry sales was encouraging, but the outlook remains tough due to a U.S. economic slowdown.

"We expect U.S. trading conditions to remain tough in the face of consumer economic anxiety, and retailer focus on inventory levels," Foster's head of Americas Scott Weiss told a media briefing, referring to wine sales.

Earlier, the company reported first-half U.S. wine earnings fell 32.9 percent. ($1=A$1.09) (Reporting by Victoria Thieberger)