Japanese retailer Daiei has raised its first-half group recurring profit forecast to  ¥8.5bn (US$74.7m) from its initial forecast in April of ¥2bn.


The higher profits have been boosted by a strong performance from the company’s financial service subsidiary, reported Reuters.


Daiei forecast a first-half group net profit of ¥414bn on sales of ¥865.1bn, compared to a previous forecast of net profit of ¥410bn on sales of ¥860bn.


Although the company left its full-year forecasts unchanged, Japanese media speculated that Daiei could beat its expectations for group recurring profit of ¥23bn due to the closure of several loss-making stores and divestments, Reuters said.