DESPITE international problems, beer giant AB InBev has said it has no plans to axe jobs at its Samlesbury plant.

Its northern European arm, including the former Whitbread complex in the Ribble Valley, outperformed its world-wide results, according to the company's full year results.

Its results issued yesterday revealed the firm will seek cost savings from its £79billion takeover of SABMiller.

AB InBev aims to increase savings by 14 per cent to £2.3b raising fears over further job cuts.

The group is already expected to axe around 5,500 jobs, around three per cent of its combined global workforce, as a result of the September merger, the UK’s biggest-ever corporate deal.

Samlesbury employs around 260 workers brewing premium brands such as Stella Artois, Budweiser, and Boddingtons.

Details of the cost savings came as AB InBev announced annual results showing a slide in profits and a weak end to 2016 after tough trading in its second largest market, Brazil.

It confirmed the integration of Fosters and Peroni brewer SAMiller was already 'well under way'.

Jason Warner, president of InBev North Europe, said: “2016 was a good year for us with overall sales volumes growing by low single digits driven by the strong performance of our three global brands – Stella Artois, Budweiser and Corona.

“Stella Artois was once again the number one beer brand in the country, with sales far exceeding any other beer brand.

“Budweiser was the biggest contributor to sales growth in the beer category. Corona in particular was a big success.

“We look forward to building on our momentum in 2017 as we continue to grow our premium beer brands and drive value for our customers and consumers.”

A UK spokesman for the company said: “We have no plans for job losses at Samlesbury.”

Overall, group-wide beer sales by volume fell 2 per cent after a 3.3 per cent slide in the fourth quarter.

But ABInBev said it was 'confident' over its future as a merged company.