Suntory Holdings, the group company that owns Suntory Food and Beverage Limited, said that group revenue fell 0.23% to ¥1.97 trillion yen (approx. $18.7bn) in the first nine months of 2016. However, operating income rose 14.1% to ¥149bn yen ($1.4bn).

Suntory Food and Beverage segment boosted sales 4.4% to ¥1.06 trillion yen ($10bn) in the nine months to September, helped by a strengthening of its brands, creation of new demand for its products, bolstering profitability by reforming its cost structure and improving product quality based on insights from other group companies.