-- Curves' (TYO:7085) profit attributable to owners of the parent rose 5.8% to 2.23 billion yen for the fiscal first half from 2.11 billion yen a year earlier.
The fitness facility operator's basic earnings per share increased to 24.22 yen from 22.90 yen a year ago, according to a Tokyo bourse filing on Monday.
Net sales jumped 9.8% in the six months ended Feb. 28, to nearly 20 billion yen from 18.2 billion yen in the prior year.
It declared a final dividend of 9 yen per share, payable from May 13.
In a separate filing, Curves raised its forecasts for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, citing better-than-expected first-half results.
The company now expects attributable profit of 4.85 billion yen from 4.7 billion yen previously, basic EPS of 52.67 yen from 51.05 yen, and net sales of 42.3 billion yen from 41.3 billion yen.
Curves plans to pay a year-end dividend of 20 yen per share for the current year, which is higher than the 9 yen per share paid in the year-ago period.
In a separate disclosure, Curves said it will receive a dividend of 1.72 billion yen from its consolidated subsidiary, Curves Japan, following a resolution on April 13.
The dividend will be recorded as net sales in the non-consolidated settlement but will have no impact on the company's consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending August 31.