China’s recent slowdown is worsening a stubborn problem for brewer SABMiller PLC: Despite the massive amount of beer consumed there, turning a decent profit isn’t easy.

China accounts for a quarter of the world’s beer volumes and a tenth of the revenue but makes up just 3% of the global profit pool, according to Deutsche Bank. SAB, whose co-owned Chinese brand Snow is the world’s largest-selling beer, gets just 2% of its operating profit from China, even though the region makes up fully 20% of its global beer volumes.

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