Ito-Yokado Co. lost its position as Japan's No. 1 retailer to Aeon Co. in terms of group sales in the year that ended Feb. 29.
But Ito-Yokado said Thursday that its net profit grew 15 percent to 53.63 billion yen, thanks to the strong performance of its convenience store subsidiary Seven-Eleven Japan Co.
Sales at the supermarket chain for the 12-month period were virtually flat at 3.542 trillion yen, slightly short of the 3.546 trillion yen reported by Aeon for the same period the previous day.