We drink less beer, but Coopers sales up

Australians are drinking less beer but Adelaide-based brewer Coopers has defied the trend to post record sales.

The company says its beer sales in 2014/15 rose 4.7 per cent to 78.8 million litres, pushing revenue to $235.1 million.

That came as total beer consumption in Australia fell to less than 1.7 billion litres, down from 1.87 billion in 2009.

Coopers managing director Tim Cooper described the fall in recent years as "troubling" and said it had prompted demands from retailers for increased discounts and rebates.