-- Ryohin Keikaku's (TYO:7453) profit attributable to owners of the parent jumped 35% to 34.3 billion yen for the fiscal first half from 25.5 billion yen a year earlier.
The retailer's earnings per share increased to 64.51 yen from 48.03 yen a year ago, according to a Tokyo bourse filing on Friday.
Net sales jumped nearly 15% to 438.5 billion yen for the six months ended Feb. 28, from over 382 billion yen in the prior year.
It declared a second-quarter dividend of 22 yen per share, payable from May 8.
In a separate filing, Ryohin Keikaku raised its forecast for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, citing better-than-anticipated second-quarter results and a favorable depreciation of the yen.
The company now expects an attributable profit of 62 billion yen from 53 billion yen previously, EPS of 116.80 yen from 99.91 yen, and operating revenue of 887 billion yen from 860 billion yen.
Ryohin Keikaku also raised its annual dividend forecast to 32 yen from 28 yen initially, including a final dividend of 16 yen per share.