Heineken says Q3 sales weak but profits up

2AMSTERDAM (AP) — Heineken NV, the Dutch brewer, said Wednesday that underlying sales dipped but profits rose during the third quarter on a mix of cost savings, volume growth in Asia and Africa, and price increases.

The family-controlled company, which has only begun issuing quarterly trading updates this year, said its "organic growth in net profit before exceptional items and amortization of brands" — a nonstandard measure — was up "slightly more than 10 percent" from the same period a year ago. It did not provide figures.

In the trading update, Heineken repeated forecasts for profits to rise at least 10 percent for the whole year on that basis.

It said revenues were …