Feb 16, 2010. /Lesprom Network/. Cost reductions and falling raw material and fuel prices helped four of Japan's five major paper manufacturers lift year-on-year group net profit in the nine months ended December 31, as Asia Pulse reported. Net profit jumped 130% to 16.7 billion yen ($182.6 million) at Oji Paper Co., 360% to 26.7 billion yen ($292 million) at Nippon Paper Group Inc., 2% to 2.2 billion yen ($24 million) at Daio Paper Corp. and 45% to 4.4 billion yen ($48 million) at Hokuetsu Kishu Paper Co. They managed to pull off the profit gains despite sales declines. Demand declined for paper used for promotional fliers, catalogs and newsprint after the financial crisis in 2008. The advent of online media is changing the advertising sector's reliance on paper, says a top Oji Paper official. The sales declines were 13% for Oji, 12% for Nippon Paper, 10% for Daio, and 3% for Hokuetsu Kishu. Mitsubishi Paper Mills Ltd. suffered a 1.3 billion yen ($14.2 million) net loss, with its sales sliding 17% for the period.