Japan's major convenience stores on Wednesday posted rosy figures for the 2005 business year, while supermarket chains lagged despite signs that personal consumption is recovering.
Lawson Inc. posted a net profit of 22.03 billion yen in the year to February, up 7.8 percent from a year ago, on sales of 268.06 billion yen. Lawson posted the record highs for business profit, pretax profit and net profit for the period between March 2005 and February 2006.
The Tokyo-based firm said its new chain, Natural Lawson, aimed at women, and Lawson Store 100, which sells perishable foods such as fish and vegetables, helped lure customers who normally shun convenience stores.