Ajinomoto Co. Inc. said its normalized net income for the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30 amounted to ¥22.32 per share, a gain of 29.6% from ¥17.22 per share in the prior-year period.

Normalized net income, which excludes unusual gains or losses on a pre- and after-tax basis, was ¥12.69 billion, a gain of 29.2% from ¥9.82 billion in the prior-year period.

The normalized profit margin increased to 4.5% from 3.8% in the year-earlier period.

Total revenue rose 7.5% on an annual basis to ¥279.02 billion from ¥259.64 billion, and total operating expenses rose 6.4% on an annual basis to ¥256.48 billion from ¥241.03 billion.

Reported net income rose 38.1% on an annual basis to ¥15.55 billion, or ¥27.35 per share, from ¥11.26 billion, or ¥19.74 per share.

As of Nov. 14, US$1 was equivalent to ¥113.32.