Major Japanese retailers have reported improved earnings for the nine months through November, with some posting record net profits and sales as eased pandemic restrictions helped revive consumption.
Aeon Co. said Friday that its operating profit rose 26.3% from a year earlier to ¥112.68 billion in the March-November period as sales grew 4.2% to an all-time high of ¥6.72 trillion on strong sales of food products under affordable private brands. Many retailers in Japan close their books in February.
Aeon's archrival Seven & i Holdings Co. said Thursday it logged a record net profit of ¥234.71 billion over the same period, up 34.2% from a year earlier, citing its solid convenience store business at home and abroad. Sales soared 43.5% to a record ¥8.82 trillion.
Among convenience store operators, Lawson Inc. said earlier this week that net profit gained 7.2% to ¥26.12 billion in the nine-month span and sales jumped 41.1% to a record ¥737.39 billion.
Department store operators benefited from rising duty-free sales after the Japanese government eased COVID-19-related border restrictions on inbound tourists in the fall.
J. Front Retailing Co., operator of Daimaru and Matsuzakaya department stores, said late last month that operating profits surged more than fourfold to ¥20.10 billion over the nine months.
Last month, Takashimaya Co. reported an operating profit of ¥22.86 billion, turning profitable in the March-November period for the first time in three years.
Sogo & Seibu Co. posted an operating loss of ¥1.3 billion in the period on a parent basis, narrower than its ¥6.3 billion in losses a year earlier.