Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. (2502.TO) said Monday that its net profit for the nine-month period ended September grew 37% on year, due to efforts to scale down sales promotion and other costs.

The nation’s biggest brewer in terms of market share said it posted a net profit of Y35.94 billion during the just-ended nine-month period, compared with the year-earlier profit of Y26.34 billion.

Sales declined 2.7% to Y1.066 trillion from Y1.096 trillion a year earlier, while operating profit rose 22% on year to Y76.78 billion.

Many of big Japanese food and beverage companies are under pressure with domestic demand saturated, the population shrinking, and the economy weak, prompting them to extend their global reach out of concerns the customer base in Japan is deteriorating. A shift in consumer appetite to other drinks is also hurting beer sales.

For the full business year ending Dec. 31, the company kept intact its group net profit outlook at Y57 billion on operating profit of Y107 billion. Sales are estimated at Y1.459 trillion, also unchanged from the previous outlook in August.

The earnings are based on Japanese accounting standards.