San Miguel Brewery Inc. (SMB) on Wednesday reported a net profit of P2.66 billion ($55.5 million) for the first three months of the year, up 8 percent from the same period in 2008.

In a disclosure to the local bourse, the beermaking unit of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) attributed the growth to the company's continued cost management efforts and stable raw material prices.

SMB's first quarter net sales revenue stood at P12.43 billion, marginally higher than the same period last year. Sales volume reached 43 million cases.

Despite the economic downturn, the company reported P3.8 billion in operating income, a slight increase from the first quarter in 2008.

SMB has earlier completed a P38.8-billion bond offering to purchase domestic beer brands and lands assets from SMC. It was P500 million more than the expected P38.3-billion proceeds after investors in search of higher yields flocked to the debt issue.

The recent bond issue is the largest debt offering made by a corporate issuer in the country.