Kentucky Fried Chicken (Bermuda) has suffered a near halving of its profits for the first half of this year.

A two-week closure in April for renovations, higher operating expenses and maintenance costs and a $55,000 drop in gross profits compared to the same period a year ago led to a $100,000 drop in half-year net income to $112, 048.

Sales of fast food at the Queen Street outlet also fell, ending some $21,202 lower than a year ago.

Payroll costs went up $32,534, the company reports.

Shareholders' equity at the end of July amounted to $2,540,062, or $4.29 per share, compared with shareholders' equity of $2,487,603, or $4.20 per share at January 31 this year.

Chairman Donald Lines said: "We still have continuing difficulty in hiring competent full time and part-time staff despite our offering of very competitive salaries and benefits, which places additional strain on our management team.

"On behalf of the board, I thank Frank Seuss, general manager, Tracy Robinson, assistant general manager, and Jerome Talbot, operations manager, who have worked hard to improve sales and earnings., and Graham Redford, marketing consultant, for help and advice and our staff for their hard work."