Rationalizing outdoor vending machines and increasing the proportion of indoor locations

「In the Vending-Machine Operations Retail Business, amid continued difficult conditions caused by successive price increases for manufacturers' products, lower sales volumes due to consumers' preference for saving, and higher costs associated with cashless payments, we continued efforts to improve profit margins, including improving installation conditions and removing unprofitable machines. With further price increases for manufacturers' products scheduled for October, we are focusing on establishing an earnings base capable of withstanding a decline in sales volume. As a result, sales in the Vending-Machine Operations Retail Business were ¥7,451 million, up 2.3% year on year, and segment profit was ¥209 million, up 6.7%, maintaining a trend of higher sales and profit.」

「In the vending-machine retail business, rather than pursuing the number of machines operated and sales volume, we are shifting our focus to improving productivity at each operating base, vending machine, and staffing unit, appropriately reflecting product price revisions, and optimizing installation conditions.」

「In the vending-machine retail business, we are working to improve profitability by raising productivity through operational reviews and optimizing selling prices in response to higher production and logistics costs. As part of our M&A activities, we also acquired operating rights for a total of more than 1,000 vending machines in the Tohoku and northern Kanto regions. We aim to operate them efficiently by incorporating the acquired machines into the group’s existing vending-machine network.」

「In the Vending-Machine Operations Retail Business, we worked to improve profitability by increasing productivity through reviewing operations and optimizing selling prices in response to higher production and logistics costs, and acquired operating rights for approximately 750 vending machines in the Tohoku region as part of M&A.」

「On 1 October last year, 北関東ペプシコーラ販売株式会社 merged with アシード株式会社, launching a new company named 「アシード株式会社」. We are working to improve operational efficiency and reform profitability with the aim of becoming the leading independent operator.」

「In the vending-machine operator industry, sales exceeded those in the same quarter of the previous year for the second consecutive quarter amid signs of a recovery in personal consumption supported by favorable weather, and earnings also improved. We will continue to acquire vending-machine operating rights and promote new installations at facilities that attract customers to increase the number of machines and sales, while seeking to increase earnings through improved route efficiency. In addition, アシード株式会社 and 北関東ペプシコーラ販売株式会社 merged on 1 October 2022.」

「We will continue to increase the number of vending machines by acquiring vending-machine operating rights and promoting new installations at facilities that attract customers, thereby seeking to increase revenue, improve route efficiency, and raise profits.」

「In the vending-machine operations business, sales for October to December remained broadly in line with the previous year because the return of users to leisure facilities and amusement venues was slow, and the business continued to face a challenging earnings environment. We continued to pursue thorough cost reductions, including improvements in route efficiency. As a result, revenue in the vending-machine retail business was ¥9,571 million, compared with ¥9,081 million in the same quarter of the previous year, and segment profit was ¥11 million, compared with a segment loss of ¥37 million in the same quarter of the previous year.」

「Under these circumstances, we returned the business to profitability by strengthening direct sales of products designed to prevent heatstroke during the midsummer season and implementing thorough cost reductions.」

「Under these circumstances, 北関東ペプシコーラ販売株式会社, an operating subsidiary of the Group, made 株式会社いいじま, a fellow operator based in Ibaraki Prefecture, a subsidiary and is proceeding with the consolidation of sales offices and improvements in route efficiency.」

「In response to these conditions, we worked to secure profit through direct sales and by providing outsourced services to other industry operators.」

「In response to this situation, we are responding quickly to customer needs, including selling masks through some vending machines on a limited basis through autumn, while thoroughly reviewing costs.」

「In response to these conditions, the Group is consolidating and integrating sales bases, improving operating efficiency through headcount controls, and undertaking thorough reductions in administrative costs to adapt to the new normal that lies ahead.」

「Sales volumes in the vending-machine retail business remained sluggish due to price-cutting sales by major mass retailers, competition with drugstores and convenience stores, and the implementation of telework amid the spread of COVID-19, resulting in revenue of ¥14,911 million, down 5.4% from the previous fiscal year. Revenue in the beverage service systems business fell 17.7% to ¥123 million, mainly because the company actively withdrew from existing locations with low utilization and low profitability.」

「We recognize that the challenging environment surrounding beverage vending machines will continue, and as we pursue a strategy of focusing on the beverage manufacturing and retail business, we will actively advance M&A and business alliances by leveraging our extensive experience and accumulated expertise. The area-dominance strategy will improve operating efficiency, while we will enhance the value of smart stores, in particular, as social infrastructure that responds to changes in customers’ lifestyles and the social environment.」

「Revenue from the beverage service system business decreased 18.1% to ¥150 million, mainly due to the active withdrawal of existing installed locations with low utilization and low profitability.」

「Against this backdrop, our group will thoroughly scrap and rebuild unprofitable vending machines, promote an area-dominance strategy, and seek to allocate management resources in a focused and efficient manner. In addition, we will actively pursue business alliances and M&A with other industry operators, while continuing to install vending machines primarily in smart stores.」

「Against this backdrop, the Group is rigorously pursuing scrap-and-build for unprofitable vending machines, promoting an area-dominance strategy, and focusing and deploying management resources efficiently.」

「We also emphasized an area-dominance strategy in expanding vending-machine installations and worked to improve logistics efficiency and profitability.」

「Revenue in the Beverage Service Systems Business fell 13.3% to ¥183 million due to the active withdrawal of existing locations with low utilization and low profitability.」

「Against this backdrop, the Group is rigorously pursuing scrap-and-build for unprofitable vending machines and, while focusing and deploying management resources efficiently, is actively pursuing business alliances and M&A with specialized operators in the same industry, while enhancing the value of vending machines as social infrastructure centered on Smart Stores that responds to changes in customers' lifestyles and the social environment.」

「Against this backdrop, the company will continue to pursue a scrap-and-build strategy for outdoor vending machines with low social and economic utility, while consolidating vending machine locations indoors by strengthening full-line vending machines, which can sell popular products from multiple manufacturers through a single machine while saving energy and space, and the compact coffee machine Cafe Bar.」

「From this perspective, we will continue to promote scrap-and-build initiatives for outdoor vending machines with low social utility and economic value while increasing the proportion of indoor locations.」