3 Japan convenience store operators log profit growth in March-May
Three major Japanese convenience store operators posted growth in their group operating revenues and profits in the March-May first quarter of the current business year, according to their earnings reports.
Retail giant Seven & i Holdings Co., the operator of industry leader Seven-Eleven Japan Co., saw its mainstay overseas convenience store operations recover thanks to labour and other cost cuts.
FamilyMart Co.'s operating profit grew 17.9 % from a year before to 27.8 billion yen, as advertisements featuring Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani helped attract more customers and boost sales of "onigiri" rice balls.
FamilyMart also attracted budget-minded consumers thanks to discount sales of food items such as eggs and milk. As a result, the company's net profit jumped 36.7 % to a record 21.1 billion yen.
In its earnings report released Friday, Lawson Inc. said that the average daily sales per outlet hit a record high of 584,000 yen, as an efficient product ordering system using artificial intelligence contributed to higher sales. New bread products captured demand mainly from young customers.
But Lawson's net profit fell 2.8 % to 16.4 billion yen after booking appraisal gains on investment securities a year before.
Seven & i saw positive effects from cost cuts and an expansion in the lineups of private-label products in North America. Its net profit rose by about 2.3-fold to 49 billion yen, also aided by gains from the sale of store assets held by its Ito-Yokado Co. general merchandise store unit. But the company suffered a 0.7 % drop in the number of customers for its domestic operations.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
