Behind the Sushi Counter

Empire Premium Food Berhad, which trades as Empire Sushi, runs 143 grab-and-go and quick dine-in sushi outlets across Malaysia and listed on Bursa Malaysia in April 2026. In the year to 31 March 2026 it grew revenue 26.1%, from RM235.6M to RM297.1M, and gross profit grew even faster, up 28.4%. So far, a clean growth story.

The lid lifts on the lines below gross profit. Profit after tax grew only 20.6%, slower than both revenue and gross profit, and the net margin eased from 16.1% to 15.4%. Because this was the company's first reported year as a listed group, there is no prior-year quarter to compare, so the reading here is the full year against the year before.

Revenue rose 26.1% and gross profit 28.4%, but profit after tax rose only 20.6%. The three did not move together. The widening gap between the top line and the bottom line is the first thread to pull, and it tells us the squeeze happened somewhere between gross profit and net profit, not in the cost of the food itself.

The margins do not all move the same way. Gross margin improved, from 41.7% to 42.5%, so the business kept more of each sales ringgit after the cost of food. But operating margin fell from 21.7% to 20.8%, and net margin from 16.1% to 15.4%. An improving gross margin sitting above a falling net margin points to the cause living in the middle of the statement, in the running costs, not in the kitchen.

Reading each line as a share of revenue locates the shift. Cost of sales actually fell, from 58.3% to 57.5% of revenue, which is why the gross margin improved. Distribution costs held roughly steady near 15% of revenue. The change sits in administrative expenses, which jumped from 4.7% to 6.7% of revenue: in ringgit they grew 80.5%, more than three times the pace of sales.

Part of that rise is a one-off RM2.93M expense for the listing itself. Even setting that aside, administrative costs still grew about 54%, well ahead of the 26% rise in sales, as the group added head-office headcount ahead of new outlet openings.

The bridge shows each step from the top line down. Cost of sales takes the largest bite, leaving RM126.2M of gross profit; distribution and administrative costs together remove most of the rest, and tax takes the final slice, leaving RM45.7M. Two small inflows, other income and interest earned on a healthy cash pile, nudge the total back up along the way.

The group reports as a single business, but it splits its sales by outlet format. Grab-and-go outlets, 127 of them, bring in 87.3% of revenue; 16 quick dine-in outlets bring the remaining 12.7%. The company does not break out profit or a prior-year figure by format, so this view shows the mix today, not how each format is trending or how profitable each one is.