Seven & i to invest 3.2 T. yen for growth

The Japanese retail group said the same day that its consolidated net profit fell 23.0 % from the previous year to 173 billion yen in the year ended February, reflecting sluggish overseas convenience store operations.

The group also reported an operating profit of 420.9 billion yen, down 21.2 %, on sales of 11,972.7 billion yen, up 4.4 %.

In the domestic convenience store business, Seven & i saw a rebound in the number of store visitors thanks to the introduction of low-priced items after a decline due to its slow response to thrifty consumers amid rising prices.

Still, its gross margin deteriorated due to higher raw material costs.

The group faces the urgent task of improving its corporate value as it has received a takeover proposal from Canadian convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.

It plans to sell more than half of its shares in an intermediate holding company for noncore businesses, including ailing supermarket operator Ito-Yokado Co., and to list its North American convenience store unit by the second half of 2026.

To shore up its stock price, Seven & i will use proceeds from the sale of Ito-Yokado and other units to buy back up to 600 billion yen of its own shares in fiscal 2025.

Including this, the company will spend a total of 2 trillion yen on share buybacks through fiscal 2030.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]

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