Synthetic and recycled yarn producer Unifi Inc. reported second quarter earnings Thursday that beat analyst expectations, spurred by a 7.9 percent sales increase.

Earnings per share totaled 43 cents per share compared to earnings of 34 cents in the second quarter of fiscal 2017 and the Wall Street expectations of 39 cents per share.

This earnings does not consider the impact of the federal tax reform legislation signed into law in December 2017.

The company’s net sales totaled $167.5 million, an increase from the $155.2 million reported in the 2017 fiscal year’s second quarter.

“International revenue accelerated and grew 30 percent in the quarter, led by our performance in Asia,” said CEO Kevin Hall on a conference call with analysts. “The investments we’ve made in our team and supply chain in Asia continue to show through.”

Nearly half of the company’s sales were represented by revenues gained through premium value-added products, a more than 20 percent increase from what those products earned them in the second quarter of fiscal 2017.

Operating income of Unifi dipped to $7.8 million compared to the second quarter of fiscal 2017, when that number reached $9.0 million. The company said this drop is a result of higher compensation and marketing expenses for expanded commercial efforts.

Founded in 1969, the Greensboro-based company supplies specialty yarn and other raw materials globally for customers to use in the production of a wide range of products, including clothing and furniture.

Unifi has promoted its efforts to implement renewable, environment-friendly production tactics, claiming it has transformed more than 10 billion plastic bottles into usable material.

The company’s shares sat at $36.08 on Thursday at midday, up slightly.

The filing can be found here.