Recovery trend in wedding bookings and existing restaurants

「In the bridal business, the number of weddings held fell below the same period of the previous year, partly because of the temporary closure associated with the renovation of Maison Paul Bocuse (Daikanyama). However, measures to encourage an increase in the number of invited guests increased the number of guests per wedding, and initiatives to raise food and beverage unit prices proved effective. As a result, revenue per wedding increased, and revenue exceeded both the same period of the previous year and the initial plan. Booking acquisition for the second half and subsequent fiscal years has also progressed strongly, supported by the effects of the renovation.」

「In wedding sales, some locations were affected by cancellations and postponements caused by typhoons, torrential rain, and other events. However, by comprehensively offering carefully selected, high-quality products that accurately addressed diversifying customer needs, including proposals for food and beverages, the Company maintained revenue per wedding at a high level despite the downward pressure from fewer guests. Same-store revenue exceeded both the plan and the same period of the previous year.」

「In wedding sales, as the number of wedding guests, which had declined as weddings became smaller during the COVID-19 pandemic, gradually recovered, Company-specific measures such as initiatives to raise food and beverage unit prices and the development and strengthened sales of high-priced products in collaboration with partner companies led to a significant increase in revenue per wedding. As a result, revenue exceeded both the plan and the same period of the previous year.」

「In wedding sales, although the temporary closure of the flagship restaurant Ristorante ASO (Daikanyama) for approximately 3 months due to renovations had an impact, measures to raise unit prices proved effective. These included new initiatives unique to Hiramatsu Wedding to address diversifying customer needs, the introduction of highly original new products leveraging local characteristics, and ancillary services designed around the needs of attending family members and guests. As a result, revenue exceeded both the plan and the same period of the previous year. Competition in booking acquisition has intensified since the reclassification of COVID-19 as a Class 5 disease, but bookings for the renovated Ristorante ASO have progressed strongly, with weekends and public holidays through June next year almost sold out and an increase in weekday wedding bookings.」

「As the number of wedding guests gradually recovered, new measures to address diversifying wedding needs and ancillary services designed around the needs of attending family members and guests proved effective. As a result, revenue per wedding exceeded the plan, and wedding revenue exceeded the plan.」

「In wedding sales, the Company strengthened its digital marketing strategy, which had been pursued as a measure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as internal training to improve the contract conversion rate. As a result, both the number of new tours and the number of contracts progressed steadily and exceeded the previous year.」

「To strengthen the ability to propose customer-focused weddings, the Company improved its listening and proposal capabilities and strengthened product knowledge, thereby improving customer satisfaction and raising the per-person unit price. Measures to encourage an increase in the number of guests enabled it to maintain revenue per wedding above the planned level, resulting in revenue substantially exceeding the same period of the previous year.」

「In wedding sales, revenue has not returned to the level of three fiscal years earlier, before the impact of COVID-19, owing to the decline in the number of weddings held and in revenue per wedding resulting from fewer guests. However, efforts to improve listening and proposal capabilities and strengthen product knowledge in order to enhance customer-focused wedding proposals improved customer satisfaction and raised unit prices. Measures to encourage an increase in the number of guests also enabled the Company to maintain revenue per wedding above a certain level, resulting in revenue substantially exceeding the same period of the previous year.」

「In the bridal business, customer needs changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through sales activities conducted with a consistently customer-focused approach, the contract conversion rate and revenue per customer improved, and the business is recovering steadily.」

「Even under these conditions, revenue substantially exceeded the previous year by capturing new customer needs during the COVID-19 pandemic through measures such as wine gifts for wedding guests introduced in response to the suspension of alcohol service, family weddings, photo weddings, and online weddings; differentiating the Company through the value offered as a higher-quality restaurant and bridal operator; offering small weddings using private rooms; and developing flexible products tailored to customer needs.」

「In the bridal business, the lifting of the state of emergency, which had remained in place for an extended period, led to a significant recovery in the number of weddings held, and revenue substantially exceeded the previous year. To address the continuing decline in the number of invited guests, the Company reviewed its menus and tasting-event content to raise per-customer food and beverage spending, while improving staff product knowledge and proposal capabilities, enabling it to maintain revenue per wedding at a certain level.」

「At the same time, the Company significantly reduced cancellations and postponements by proposing ways to address new customer needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, including wine gifts for wedding guests introduced in response to the suspension of alcohol service, family weddings, photo weddings, and online weddings.」

「The wine gift benefit for wedding guests, introduced as a measure in response to the suspension of alcohol service, proved effective and significantly reduced wedding postponements and cancellations.」

「These initiatives proved effective, with the contract conversion rate reaching a record 42% for the current fiscal year in March, enabling the Company to secure new contracts for the next fiscal year.」

「As new initiatives to secure wedding bookings during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has been actively pursuing bookings for the next fiscal year by holding online bridal fairs and developing wedding styles suited to new lifestyles through attentive, couple-by-couple planning. It has secured new contracts mainly for weddings held from spring through autumn 2021.」

「For weddings held at restaurants, postponements continued, and some couples switched to small-scale events or receptions, resulting in a decline in revenue per wedding. In sales efforts to secure bookings, we will actively pursue orders for the next fiscal year, including by proposing weddings incorporating new formats designed in response to COVID-19.」

「In the wedding business, one of the Group's core businesses, the Group's results for the first quarter of the fiscal year were affected by successive postponements of wedding dates due to COVID-19, with revenue of ¥656 million, down 74.3% year on year.」

「Due to the impact of requests to refrain from going out and to cancel events to prevent the spread of COVID-19, many weddings were postponed and numerous cancellations occurred, including parties and corporate entertainment events. As a result, revenue, operating income, ordinary income, and net income attributable to owners of the parent fell below the results for the same period of the previous year.」

「In the bridal business, the number of weddings held increased from the previous year due to stronger web-based initiatives, but revenue declined from the previous year because of cancellations and date changes caused by successive natural disasters, lower average spending due to smaller weddings, and the consumption tax increase.」

「Although the number of wedding bookings steadily recovered from the previous fiscal year, revenue fell below the same period of the previous year due to a greater-than-expected increase in small-scale weddings and cancellations caused by typhoons.」

「As a result of the measures undertaken during the fiscal year, the number of wedding bookings scheduled for the next fiscal year exceeds that in the same period of the previous year. In addition, at existing restaurants excluding weddings, second-half results excluding the effects of closures and transfers show higher revenue than in the same period of the previous year, indicating a recovery trend heading into the next fiscal year.」