Mexico City, Oct 27 - Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo, maker of Corona beer, said its third-quarter net profit edged up 0.3 percent, as more revenue from stronger exports was offset by higher costs.
Modelo, half-owned by giant U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc, earned 2.225 billion pesos ($203 million) compared with 2.219 billion pesos in the year-ago period.
Quarterly net revenue was 19.935 billion pesos, a 6.6 percent increase from the year-ago period.
Modelo's domestic sales volume inched up 0.5 percent as consumption waned, hurt by a longer-than-expected rainy season and higher prices.
But export sales volume rose 1.8 percent, mainly driven by the United States, its main market, where the company is testing two types of its Modelo beer.
"Cost of sales rose 11.6 percent due to increases in the prices of raw materials and energy," Modelo said.