SINGAPORE - Gardenia bread maker QAF has more than doubled its net profit for the third quarter to $8.1 million from $3.8 million in the same period last year.

Revenue for the three months to Sept 30 was up 2 per cent at $256 million.

All of the group's bakery operations in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Australia achieved increases in sales through the launch of new products and increased market shares.

The trading & logistics segment achieved higher sales from its food service and export operations as well as from increased rental income from its cold storage operations. However, the group's fully integrated producer of meat located in Australia, Rivalea saw a slight reduction of sales revenue due to the fall in sales of lower margin products.

Costs of materials eased by 2 per cent to $137.9 million, mainly due to lower cost of feed for Rivalea.

Staff costs increased by 3 per cent, due mainly to new hirings for increased production and sales distribution activities in the bakery segment as well as higher wage adjustments for staff in certain bakery operations.

Repairs and maintenance costs rose by 8 per cent to $8.5 million due to higher repairs of production facilities and distribution vehicles in the group's bakery operations as a result of increased production and distribution activities.

Earnings per share swelled to 1.5 cents from 0.7 cent previously while net asset value per share grew to 72.9 cents compared to 72.6 cents as at Dec 31.

As a result of the momentum achieved so far by all of the group's major business segments as well as the successful implementation of business strategies, QAF is highly confident that it will achieve higher profits for the full year.