Olam International has booked a 26.2% increase in first-quarter profits, boosted by growth at its food business.

Net profit for the three months to the end of September rose to S$43.2m (US$35.3m), up from S$34.2m in the comparable period of last year.

Revenues gained 45.2% to S$4.7bn. The rise was driven by sales from Olam's food unit more than doubling, while industrial raw material sales were up 13.1%.

Looking to the coming year, Olam said it is "positive about the long-term fundamentals" of its business. However the company also sounded a note of caution on the outlook for the next nine months. "The cyclical events experienced over the past year combined with the continuing volatility and uncertainty in the global markets could have some residual impact on the results in FY2013," the company warned.