Major Japanese restaurant chains posted solid consolidated earnings performances for the first half of the year or the quarter ended in June, aided by menu price increases that boosted per-customer spending.

Those chains successfully attracted customers after the price increases by actively launching new menus and limited-time products.

Skylark Holdings' net profit leaped by about 11 times in the first half from a year earlier to ¥6.2 billion. Per-customer spending climbed some 3% due to price increases at its restaurants such as Gusto. The number of customers expanded 9% thanks to the popularity of menus featuring popular animation characters.

McDonald's Holdings reported record operating and net profits for the first half. Its net profit rose 31% to ¥14.8 billion. Royal Holding's net profit doubled to ¥2.9 billion.

Zensho Holdings, the operator of beef bowl chain Sukiya, posted record revenue and profits for the April-June period as it lured customers with limited-time products after raising prices for some menus. Its net profit climbed 61.7% to ¥10.7 billion.

Net profit of Colowide, which runs a variety of restaurants ranging from sushi to yakiniku barbecue, dropped 50.1% to ¥1 billion, hit by higher advertising costs.

Executives were cautious about their earnings prospects.

McDonald's executive Shuko Yoshida said that the company is "concerned about an impact on consumer demand from a weak yen and rising costs for ingredients such as beef and potatoes."

Skylark President Minoru Kanaya said that the company expects to face "accelerated cost increases amid higher minimum wages and soaring rice prices."