MillerCoors, a U.S. joint venture between Molson Coors Brewing Co. and SABMiller PLC, said Wednesday that its third-quarter profit climbed on cost-control efforts as well as the strength of beer brands like MGD 64.

The maker of Blue Moon and Miller Genuine Draft said its earnings rose 37 percent to $229.7 million compared with a pro-forma profit of $168.2 million a year ago.

Excluding pension related charges and other items, profit increased to $244.4 million from $190.8 million.

Revenue grew 3 percent to $2.01 billion from $1.95 billion, partly on MGD 64's strength, while sales of mainstay Miller Lite continued to soften.

MillerCoors said its pricing remained solid, with domestic net revenue per barrel up 3.7 percent when removing contract brewing and company-owned distributor sales.

The company cut its marketing, general and administrative costs by 4.5 percent to $496 million in the quarter.

The pairing of Molson Coors and SABMiller is benefiting from savings by operating together and eliminating overlapping functions, a move it undertook starting in July 2008 to better compete against industry leader Anheuser-Busch, which sold itself last year to Belgian-based InBev.

But MillerCoors still has to deal with a tough economy that is making consumers limit their drinking and trips out to bars. Flagship Miller Lite _ which is highly dependent on restaurant and bar sales _ has been hurting due to the stay-at-home trend. However, its MGD 64 sales are up, as are those for Blue Moon and Peroni Nastro Azzurro.

CEO Leo Kiely said in a statement that the company has recognized the advantages of having a diversified product line "that offers consumers choice and variety in all segments."