"In our Annual Report to Shareholders for the year issued on 30th April, 2001 we reported net income of $305,086 for the year ended 31st January 2001 compared with $239,132 for the year ended 31st January 2000. Sales in the year ended 31st January 2001 were 16.3% higher than in the previous year and gross profits increased by 20.36%. Operating expenses were however 21.4% higher in the year ended 31st January 2001, largely due to a 33% increase in salary and wage costs and an increase in our marketing and advertising expenditure.
We are pleased to report that in the first three months of this fiscal year sales are ahead of last year by some 20% and our gross profit is up by about 23%. The increase in sales is mainly as a result of continued changes in our mix of product sales, a more aggressive marketing program and the promotion we held in March to mark our 30th anniversary. As a result of reduction in certain operating costs, net income for the three months ended 30th April 2001 has increased to $81,999 from $39,632 reported in the first three months of last year. Despite the pressure from costs that are difficult to control such as salaries and government levies, we hope this level of earnings will be maintained for the remainder of the year.
On 15th August 2000 we paid a dividend of $0.10 per share to shareholders of record 31st July 2000. Another dividend of $0.10 per share was paid on 28th February 2001 to shareholders of record 15th February 2001. During the year, the Company also repurchased a net of 50,576 of its own shares, reducing shares outstanding to 614,931 after taking into account 48,500 shares issued as a result of the exercise of stock options. Despite the repurchase of shares, the Company is in a very healthy financial position with cash and deposits of $609,535 as of 30th April 2001 compared to $347,511 as of 30th April 2000. No additional shares have been repurchased since the end of the fiscal year. But it is our intention to continue to buy in shares of the Company for cancellation with a view to reducing the shares outstanding to a more acceptable level.
We are still actively pursuing our program of upgrading kitchen equipment that is close to the end of its useful life, in order to increase our efficiency and to better service our customers. In April of this year, we purchased four fryers at a total cost of $45,000. Other repair work that is anticipated to take place later this year will be the refurbishment of the dining area, improvement of the layout in order to facilitate efficient service and upgrade of the office facilities.
At a Board Meeting held today it was agreed that we would pay on August 1st the regular semi-annual dividend of .10¢ per share plus an extra dividend of .10¢ per share to shareholders of record as at June 30th 2001 in recognition of the results of the year ended January 31st, 2001 and continuing increases in earnings.
On behalf of the Board I would like to pay tribute to all our staff for their contribution to our earnings. In particular, I would like to thank Kevin Manuel, Doug Chase and Tracy Robinson for the excellent results, which are a reflection of their management talents, staff training and marketing and sales success. I would also like to extend thanks to Graham Redford whose advice has been invaluable.
In closing, I would like to thank my fellow Executive Directors, Crayton Greene, Susan Wilson and Bill Thomson for their assistance and hard work during the past year."