Expansion across multiple formats and portfolio optimisation

「In Japan, we are also actively pursuing business expansion through M&A. Given that our existing brands are primarily regional brands, we will seek to expand our operating areas and business scale through M&A in the same formats.」

「株式会社タケモトフーズにおいて、堅調なインバウンド需要を背景に、大阪府泉佐野市の「りんくうプレミアム・アウトレット」内で一括運営していたフードコートエリア「ワールドグルメジャンクション」を全面リニューアルし、新たに「RINKU FOOD PARK（りんくうフードパーク）」として、合計８ブランドを展開する「食のテーマパーク」へリブランディングいたしました。」

「Completely renovated the World Gourmet Junction food-court area and grand-opened it as RINKU FOOD PARK, rebranding it as a food theme park offering a total of 8 brands.」

「November 2024: Consolidated subsidiary 丸七 acquired all shares of エコー商事株式会社, now a consolidated subsidiary.」

「As part of our new-opening initiatives, we have been actively expanding the Omurice-tei omelet-rice specialty format in the daily-meal and fast-food business as a second core business after yakiniku. In July this year, we opened Seamoal Shimonoseki. Going forward, we will invest both intensively in our core business and in growth formats to expand and strengthen our earnings capacity.」

「On 31 March 2024, our consolidated subsidiary 丸七 acquired the business of 5 Jumbo Oshidori Sushi restaurants from エコー商事株式会社.」

「Our core yakiniku business and other businesses, including daily meals and fast food, continued to perform steadily despite the effects of persistently high personnel costs, raw-material prices and utility expenses.」

「Going forward, the Group will leverage its strength in operating multiple formats, centered on suburban yakiniku restaurants and including everyday dining and fast food, while striving to provide safer and more reliable products, develop stores that satisfy customers, and achieve stable growth and a recovery in business performance.」

「In January this year, we transferred part of our stake in 株式会社テンフォー, a consolidated subsidiary operating a pizza-delivery format mainly in Hokkaido, in order to further optimize our group's business portfolio and concentrate management resources by focusing on eat-in businesses.」

「We decided to transfer part of our stake in 株式会社テンフォー after determining that focusing on eat-in businesses, including our core yakiniku business, would align with the optimization of our group's business portfolio and the concentration of management resources as the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to move toward containment.」

「Going forward, the Group will leverage its strength in operating multiple formats, centered on suburban yakiniku restaurants and including everyday dining, fast food and delivery, while making infection prevention its top priority. We will strive to provide safer and more reliable products, develop stores that satisfy customers, and achieve stable growth and a recovery in business performance.」

「Against this backdrop, the yakiniku business and the daily-meal and fast-food business showed relatively steady recoveries. In particular, we are focusing on the daily-meal and fast-food business as our group's second core business and are expanding the stone-pot bibimbap specialty brand Annyon. We opened Riverwalk Kitakyushu in May, followed by Aeon Mall Imabari Shintoshi and Aeon Mall Niihama in June. We will continue testing and improving the format while accelerating restaurant openings.」

「Among our other businesses, the daily-meal and fast-food business, centered on the Japanese-style pasta brand Kabe no Ana, has recovered relatively quickly, and we will focus on developing it as our second core business after yakiniku. In particular, the stone-pot bibimbap specialty brand Annyon has performed steadily. We opened Sunlive City Kokura in October last year, Aeon Mall Omuta in February this year, and Aeon Mall Inagawa in March.」

「During the third quarter of the current fiscal year, we opened Nikusho Sakai Hirakata, a suburban all-you-can-eat yakiniku restaurant equipped with our first express service lane, in November as a new initiative to reduce customer contact in response to changing consumer needs. In October, we also opened Annyon Sunlive City Kokura, a stone-pot bibimbap specialty restaurant, as a daily-meal format with relatively stable performance and low opening costs.」

「Going forward, our group intends to pursue stable growth and earnings recovery by leveraging our strength in operating multiple formats, including fast food and delivery, centered on our core suburban yakiniku business, while giving top priority to infection-prevention measures, providing safer products, and developing restaurants that satisfy customers.」

「Going forward, our group intends to pursue stable growth and earnings recovery by leveraging our strength in operating multiple formats, including fast food and delivery, centered on our core suburban yakiniku business, while giving top priority to infection-prevention measures, providing safer products, and developing restaurants that satisfy customers.」

「We plan to continue actively shifting management resources to the yakiniku business.」

「During the three months ended 30 June, our group had 16 company-operated restaurants closed due to contract expirations and the closure of unprofitable locations. However, the addition of 株式会社ジー・アクアパートナーズ, which operates the food-service business at Shikoku Aquarium, as a consolidated subsidiary resulted in 3 new locations, bringing the number of company-operated restaurants to 415. The aquarium opened in April 2020, suspended operations following the declaration of a state of emergency, and resumed operations in June 2020. Including 255 franchised restaurants, the total number of locations was 670.」

「Including 268 franchised restaurants, the total number of restaurants reached 696.」

「株式会社テンフォー and 株式会社湯佐和, which became subsidiaries through M&A in the previous fiscal year, also performed steadily and contributed to our group results.」

「In July, 株式会社ふらんす亭, a joint venture established through a joint investment, acquired the business of Steak and Roasted Curry France-tei, a steak and hamburger format that has operated 19 restaurants mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area, including Tokyo, Kanagawa and Saitama, since 1979. As a result, the company became our subsidiary from the second quarter of the current fiscal year. We expect this subsidiary to generate greater synergies within our group and contribute to earnings.」

「On 28 June 2019, we decided to acquire the Steak Hamburger & Salad Bar Ken business from 株式会社エムグラントフードサービス, and completed the business acquisition on 1 July 2019.」

「Against this backdrop, our group worked to strengthen QSC across all operations. In the food-service business, alongside efforts to provide safer products and services that satisfy customers, we concentrated new openings in formats currently enjoying strong customer support, while actively withdrawing from unprofitable businesses and pursuing a transformation of our business structure.」

「Among our major food-service formats, the yakiniku business continued to perform steadily during the nine months ended 31 December. During the period, we opened 13 company-operated and 1 franchised restaurant under the all-you-can-eat domestic-beef yakiniku brand Nikusho Sakai. As of the end of December, the network had grown as planned to 33 restaurants, comprising 27 company-operated and 6 franchised locations.」

「In July, we made 株式会社タケモトフーズ, which operates 7 food-service locations, including large food courts mainly in the Kansai region, a subsidiary. In September, we made 株式会社壁の穴 a subsidiary; the company operates 28 Italian-format restaurants, including Kabe no Ana, a well-known pioneer of Japanese-style pasta that has been in business since 1953. We expect these transactions to generate greater synergies within our group going forward.」

「In the yakiniku business, 3 Nikusho Sakai restaurants opened, including conversions from other formats, bringing the total to 22 restaurants including franchises as of the end of June. We will continue to accelerate openings from July onward in the current fiscal year. Separately from the all-you-can-eat yakiniku brand Nikusho Sakai, we opened a new brand, Shichirin Sakai, on 20 June 2018. Shichirin Sakai offers generous portions of high-quality meat at affordable prices.」

「「肉匠坂井」 Okazaki store opened in November, while 「肉匠坂井」 Ichinomiya Bypass store was converted to the format in December, adding 2 directly operated stores. 「肉匠坂井」 Seki Margo store opened in October, adding 1 franchise store. As of the end of the third quarter, the format had expanded to 17 stores.」

「「肉匠坂井」 Ichinomiya Bisai store opened in July, bringing the number of directly operated stores to 10, while 「肉匠坂井」 Fukuchiyama store opened in September, bringing the number of franchise stores to 4. As of the end of the second quarter, the format had expanded to 14 stores.」

「In May 2017, the Group opened 「虎ノ美羊」 in the Tokyo metropolitan area as a new private-room jingisukan format centred on lamb, which has attracted attention among health-conscious consumers. In addition, continuing from the previous fiscal year, the Group actively expanded strong-performing formats by opening 「肉匠坂井」 stores, an all-you-can-eat Japanese beef yakiniku format, and 3 new franchise stores of 「おむらいす亭」, a fast-food and restaurant format.」

「The Group opened 「かしこまり」, a meat bar format that has benefited from continuing popularity, in November 2016, and also opened the second 「BARN COFFEE」 cafe-format store in November 2016.」

「In the Tokyo metropolitan area, the Group is also pursuing new formats, including by opening the meat bar 「かしこまり」 and acquiring the operation of the cafe-restaurant 「ロブロス」.」

「In the yakiniku format, 「肉匠坂井」, an all-you-can-eat Japanese beef brand, continued to perform steadily, with 8 directly operated stores and 3 franchise stores, for a total of 11 stores, as of the end of the second quarter. The Group will continue to expand the business, including through franchising, while regularly offering seasonal menus to satisfy customers.」

「Alongside format improvements, the Group launched 「炭火ステーキ　坂井」 in Kyoto as a new format, drawing on its many years of expertise in the yakiniku business. The restaurant combines an atmospheric design inspired by historic Kyoto with steaks made from Japanese black wagyu beef grilled over binchotan charcoal, bringing out the full natural flavour of the beef and allowing customers to enjoy better-quality meat at its best.」

「The expansion across multiple formats is positioned as a response to items ④, ⑤ and ⑥ under “2. Business Overview, 4. Business and Other Risks,” and is considered essential for making swift decisions on format conversions as a measure for underperforming stores. As described above, the Group believes that expanding while continuously optimising its overall format portfolio will lead to securing sufficient profits.」