A sharp fall in revenue left the profits cupboard bare at the firm that runs the Sakae Sushi restaurant chain.

Sakae Holdings reported a net loss of $545,000 for the second quarter, from earnings of $99,000 in the same period last year.

This was attributed to a streamlining of operations that resulted in a fall in revenue, while the cost of sales and labour expenses dropped accordingly, the company said yesterday.

Revenue came in at $11.2 million for the three months to Dec 31, down 39.6 per cent.

Loss per share was 0.39 cent compared with earnings per share of 0.07 cent a year earlier.

The streamlining of group operations also resulted in reductions in administrative expenses by 22.4 per cent to $5.4 million, from $6.9 million the year before. Labour costs also decreased, down 14 per cent to $4.3 million. Other administrative expenses, including depreciation charges, declined as well.

Other operating expenses were at $2.7 million, a 3.2 per cent decrease from $2.8 million the year before, resulting in improved margins.

The group's gross profit was $7 million, down from $9.5 million the year before. Gross profit margins increased by 11.4 percentage points to 62.5 per cent.

It posted a net loss of $469,000 for the first half, compared with $305,000 in net profit the year before.

Revenue fell 38.2 per cent to $21.6 million.