"It was pleasing to see both improved margins and a reduction in operating costs, where action had been taken in recent years to improve results," Robinson said.
Rakon generated positive cash flow in the period of $4.9m, compared with negative cash flow of $600,000 in the year-earlier period, which helped the company reduce net debt to $30,000 from $19.7m.
First-half underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation jumped to $3.8m from $600,000 in the year-earlier period and the company reiterated its forecast for full-year earnings on that measure of between $10.7m and $12.7m.
In its largest market of New Zealand, underlying ebitda lifted to $4m from $292,000 a year earlier, while its Chinese investments boosted earnings to $1.4m from $809,000.
In the UK, underlying ebitda dropped to $815,000 from $1m, and in India earnings fell to $371,000 from $531,000.
In France, the underlying ebitda loss narrowed to $1.3m from $1.6m, while in Australia the loss widened to $1.3m from $921,000.
Rakon won't pay a first-half dividend. Its shares last traded at 21.5 cents, having dropped 2.3 per cent this year.