Japan Foods Holding, which operates restaurants like Ajisen Ramen and Botejyu that specialise in Japanese cuisine, has posted a 27.6 per cent jump to $3.8 million in interim net profit.

Revenue for the six months to Sept 30 was up 1.8 per cent at $31 million.

Thanks to better control of raw material costs arising from efficiency in usage of materials and cost savings from self-made noodles at its own noodle production facility, gross profit margin gained 1.7 percentage points to 80.8 per cent.

The fatter margin was also partly due to currency gains from the appreciation of the Singapore dollar.

Japan Foods had a total of 39 restaurants and three other outlets located in various food courts in Singapore.

The latest addition to the portfolio is Menzo Butao, which made its debut in June at Marina Square Shopping Mall, offering more than 20 varieties of Hakata Tonkatsu Ramen in three soup bases.

While restaurants operating under the Ajisen Ramen brand continued to be the main revenue generator, contributing 52.6 per cent to total sales, others like Menya Musashi, Osaka Ohsho and Udon King also played a significant role in driving revenue growth during the period.

Earnings per share increased to 3.25 cents from 2.55 cents previously while net asset value per share grew to 23.46 cents compared to 21.69 cents as at March 31.

The company declared an interim dividend of 1.1 cents a share, up from 0.9 cent in the same period last year.

Separately, it announced a one-for-two bonus issue as a reward to shareholders and to broaden its appeal to investors.