Azuma Shipping of Japan has boosted its profit for the first nine months of the financial year despite a small decline in revenue.

The cement carrier owner said net profit to 31 December was JPY 630m ($5.2m), up from JPY 557m at the same stage last year.

Revenue took a hit at JPY 29.2bn versus JPY 31bn.

It is forecasting lower profit of JPY 640m for the full year as it does not expect to increase its revenue.