Aug 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian brewer Ambev ( ABEV )

reported a 5.6% decline in second-quarter net profit, just below

forecasts, although it said sales rose slightly, especially in

its home market and cost discipline measures had paid off.

The subsidiary of the world's largest brewer by volume

Belgium's Anheuser-Busch InBev posted a profit of 2.45

billion reais ($433.05 million), versus 2.50 billion real based

on analysts polled by LSEG.

While core profit was below expectations, earnings before

interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by

10% to 5.81 billion reais, beating a consensus forecast of 5.54

billion.

Total volumes rose 0.4%, led by Brazil and Central America

and the Caribbean, where sales of beer and non-alcoholic

beverages were resilient.

The parent company AB InBev also reported on Thursday,

beating core-profit expectations.

Analysts said the industry is returning to normality after

the disruption of the pandemic, although earlier this week

Diageo was among those to say challenges persisted because of

lingering inflationary pressures.

($1 = 5.6575 reais)