Sluggish growth in banquet and wedding guest numbers and the impact of weather and renovation closures

「In the wedding business, the main reason for falling short of the plan was a temporary decline in the number of couples visiting, and we will continue working to increase visits and improve the conversion rate.」

「As a result of these initiatives, banquets and weddings remained strong during the current interim period, centered on the Ueno store, the Company’s flagship location, and revenue exceeded the previous year.」

「As a result of these initiatives, the banquet and grill divisions performed steadily and same-store revenue increased, but total revenue for the current interim accounting period was below the previous year due in part to the impact of store closures in the previous period.」

「As a result of these initiatives, usage by organizations, corporations, government offices, and others increased for large banquets, generating strong revenue, while average customer spending also increased in individual small banquets and the grill division.」

「Although restrictions on socioeconomic activity due to COVID-19 were eliminated, demand for corporate banquets, entertaining, and meetings of various organizations recovered, and the Company worked to increase orders through online media channels, focusing on meals by families and friends and small and medium-sized banquets.」

「In the banquet division, in addition to aggressive promotional activities, we continued our sales activities and were able to secure orders for individual-demand events such as class reunions and introductory meetings, gatherings and social events of various organizations, and corporate alumni events that had been postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic,」

「As a result, usage increased from the spring welcome and farewell parties, and after the reclassification of COVID-19, we were able to secure even more banquet events and achieve results exceeding those of the previous fiscal year.」

「Revenue recovered to a certain extent and operating profit returned to profitability, partly due to the reclassification of COVID-19 as a Class 5 infectious disease, among other factors, but」

「In the food service industry, the lifting of restrictions on activities related to the novel coronavirus and the spread of living with COVID-19 made consumption activity less susceptible to infection trends, and a modest recovery was seen. First, individual demand, particularly in the restaurant division, is recovering as the Company strengthens its response through online media channels and enhances its plans, focusing on grills and small-group gatherings. In the banquet division, demand from large corporations remains difficult, but orders for small and medium-sized banquets are increasing.」

「Although corporate activity and personal consumption showed signs of recovery despite difficult conditions, banquet cancellations increased from July during the seventh wave, significantly affecting the Company.」

「This was mainly due to cash and deposits increasing by ¥140.74 million as a result of higher revenue and the execution of borrowings, and accounts receivable increasing by ¥181.17 million as small-group gatherings and family meals gradually began to resume.」

「This was mainly because gatherings such as weddings and memorial services by individual customers, which had been voluntarily postponed due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, gradually resumed, while the Company focused on serving small-group meals for families and responding to online media channels.」

「Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, we experienced a succession of cancellations and postponements, particularly of corporate bookings. Following the government’s declaration of a state of emergency in April, we closed all stores to prevent the infection from spreading among customers and employees. We gradually resumed operations, starting with stores in regional areas, from mid-May, but the reissuance of a state of emergency in January following the renewed spread of infections from the end of the year forced us to close stores again and shorten operating hours.」

「Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, we experienced a succession of cancellations and postponements, particularly of corporate bookings. Following the government’s declaration of a state of emergency, we closed all stores to prevent the infection from spreading among customers and employees.」

「Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, we experienced a succession of cancellations and postponements, particularly of corporate bookings. Following the government’s declaration of a state of emergency, we closed all stores to prevent the infection from spreading among customers and employees.」

「Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, we experienced a succession of cancellations and postponements, particularly of corporate bookings. Following the government’s declaration of a state of emergency, we closed all stores to prevent the infection from spreading among customers and employees.」

「Affected by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection from the latter half of February, revenue was ¥6,777.91 million, down 2.5% year on year, due to an increase in banquet cancellations and postponements and in customers refraining from using the services」

「In addition to banquet cancellations caused by Typhoons No. 15 and 19 and heavy rainfall from September onward, same-store sales declined due to factors including a decrease in the number of weddings held」

「However, sales for the first quarter under review were sluggish in both the banquet and wedding divisions, declining 2.9% year on year to ¥1,780.77 million,」

「In addition to sluggish growth in the number of banquet guests at some stores and wedding guests at stores other than the Ueno store, the Company was affected by adverse weather conditions and closures for renovations」