kuala lumpur malaysiashares of berjaya food bhd surged in early trade on friday after the malaysian operator of starbucks outlets reported significantly stronger quarterly results berjaya foods net profit for its second quarter ended dec 31 more than tripled from a year earlier to 389 million ringgit 93 million on increased sales of highermargin drinks and merchandise coupled with better contribution from other restaurant chains under its portfolio the stock climbed as much as 27 before paring gains berjaya foods shares were last up 25 at myr300 and are on track for their largest singleday gain in seven years maybank ib research raised its earnings estimates on the company by 76 for the current fiscal year and by 48 for the next after taking into account higher profit margins however the pentup demand unleashed during the octoberdecember period should ease as average consumer spending normalizes in january maybank said sales declined by about 10 in january from the prior month further sales for the second half of the fiscal year are likely to be weighed by the upcoming ramadan fasting period around april based on historical trends maybank said