Gardenia bread maker QAF has raised its first quarter net profit by 11 per cent to $12.7 million.

Revenue for the three months ended March 31 slipped by 3 per cent to $243 million, mainly due to the translation effect of a higher Singapore dollar exchange rate versus the domestic currencies in certain countries that the group operates in.

The lower average exchange rate of the Australian dollar against the Singapore dollar resulted in Rivalea (Australia), the group's fully integrated meat producer, seeing lower sales in terms of Singapore dollars even though the company achieved higher sales in Australian dollar terms.

Similarly, QAF's bakery operations in Malaysia achieved higher sales in Malaysian ringgit but saw lower sales when translated into Singapore dollars.

Without these translation effects, all of the group's business segments: bakery, primary production, and trading & logistics achieved increases in sales.

Earnings per share edged up to 2.3 cents from 2.2 cents previously while net asset value per share climbed to 75.6 cents compared to 72.6 cents as at Dec 31.

QAF is optimistic that it will achieve higher profits in the second quarter.