Japan Foods Holding5OI has reported earnings of $4.1 million for the year ended March 31, up 27.7% over the preceding FY2022. Revenue in the same period was up 43.8% y-o-y to a record $78.5 million.
The company attributes the better showing to generally higher sales across its various outlets, the addition of new brand concepts and most importantly, strong momentum from its outlets catering to the halal segment.
The halal segment contributed around a third of the company's total revenue in FY2023, versus around a quarter in the preceding FY2022.
The company plans to pay a final dividend of a cent, bringing full year payout for FY2023 to two cents. As at March 31, the company remained debt-free with cash of $18.5 million.
Executive chairman Takahashi Kenichi says he is encouraged by how quickly the company's revenue bounced back from the pandemic to hit a record since it started operating in 1997.
"It affirmed our strategy to enter the Halal segment and also demonstrated the resilience of our business against Singapore’s highly competitive F&B landscape," says Takahashi.
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"We will continue to refresh our brand portfolio by regularly introducing new brands and rejuvenating existing ones while assessing each brand's performance by location so that
we can manage our restaurant portfolio to achieve the best results," he adds.
Going foward, the company believes its performance will continue to reflect post-pandemic recovery and also the return of tourism following the opening of borders.
However, inflationary pressures will result in higher operating costs in materials and manpower.
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For the current FY2024 ending March 2024, Takahashi expects full year revenue contributions from the brands that were launched in the last FY, with the fastest growth from the halal segment.
"Having served customers in this market for about 2.5 years now, we have a deeper understanding about their tastes and spending patterns and I believe we will be able to cater to their needs even better," adds Takahashi.
As at March 31, the company operates 65 on its own in Singapore and 3 restaurants as joint ventures. It has 17 outlets across China and Indonesia through associates and 1 operated in Malaysia as a sub-franchisee.
Japan Foods shares last traded at 44 cents.
