Yamato Transport Co. said Tuesday its group net profit in the first half rose 16.7 percent to 13.92 billion yen.

The nation's largest courier firm attributed the growth to the rising popularity of certain delivery services and to cost-cutting measures.

Group pretax profit rose 7.9 percent to 25.16 billion yen in the six-month period, with group revenues having grown 3.7 percent to 461.19 billion yen.

Payment on delivery for purchases flourished, boosting the number of parcels handled to 28 million, up 11.5 percent from a year earlier.

The firm's refrigerated delivery service also fared well, with the number of packages handled rising 2.5 percent to 55 million, it said.

Yamato said it will pay a per-share midterm dividend of 7 yen and a yearend dividend of the same amount, mirroring 2001.

For the full business year, it expects to generate a group net profit of 30.8 billion yen, up from the previous year's 27.51 billion yen.

It expects to generate a group pretax profit of 57.5 billion yen, up from 54.43 billion yen, on projected revenues of 962 billion yen, up from 932.12 billion yen.