SINGAPORE – Seafood restaurant operator Jumbo Group has narrowed sharply its net loss to $91,000 for its full year ended Sept 30, from $11.8 million a year ago.

This was mainly due to an increase in revenue from its Singapore operations with the gradual easing of Covid-19 measures, said the group in a bourse filing on Tuesday.

Revenue for financial year 2022 rose 41.3 per cent to $115.6 million, from $81.8 million a year ago.

Loss per share came to less than 0.1 cent for the full-year period, down from 1.8 cents previously.

For the second half ended Sept 30, the company turned in a profit of $4.4 million, against a loss of $7.5 million a year ago. Revenue for this period rose 81.3 per cent year on year to $66 million, from $36.4 million.

No dividend was declared for the full year, unchanged from a year ago.

Despite a strong recovery in Singapore, its core market, Jumbo said it is conserving liquidity “to support working capital requirements and carefully assess growth investments and developments”.

It said revenue and footfall had reached pre-Covid-19 levels at some of its Singapore outlets in the final quarter of the financial year.

In recent months, there has also been significant relaxation in Covid-19 measures in cities where the group operates. These include Seoul, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Bangkok.

Jumbo is expecting improved business from outlets there.

However, it is mindful of its China operations, which may be affected by ongoing pandemic restrictions.

“We are optimistic that business performance will continue to improve, especially in our Singapore market,” said Mr Ang Kiam Meng, group chief executive and executive director. “In addition, we are creating new food and beverage concepts that we hope to introduce to the market in the near future.”

Jumbo shares jumped on Wednesday, after the results announcement, and were trading 1.5 cents, or 6 per cent, higher at 26.5 cents at 10.51am, The stock closed at 26 cents. THE BUSINESS TIMES