Operating revenue is on track, but recovering operating profit is the focus at fiscal year-end

Operating revenue for the 9-month period of the fiscal year ending September 2026 was ¥6,025.996 million, up 0.5% year on year, while operating profit was ¥682.930 million, up 6.7%. The full-year forecasts are ¥7,800 million for operating revenue and ¥1,000 million for operating profit, representing progress rates of 77.3% and 68.3%, respectively. The company assesses overall progress as steady, but explains that profit is progressing somewhat more slowly against the earnings forecast.

At the interim stage, operating revenue of ¥4,020 million represented 51.5% progress against the full-year forecast, while operating profit of ¥517 million represented 51.7%, putting the two on almost the same trajectory. By the third quarter, operating revenue had exceeded three-quarters of the full-year forecast, whereas operating profit remained below 70%. On a simple calculation, the company needs approximately ¥1,774 million in operating revenue and ¥317 million in operating profit in the fourth quarter. The required fourth-quarter operating profit is equivalent to approximately 46% of operating profit for the 9-month period.

The company attributes the relatively slow profit progress to SG&A expenses increasing against the full-year forecast as it proceeded with store renovations and strengthened its logistics capabilities. Although SG&A expenses declined year on year, investment and operating costs may have run ahead of plan. The final results should clarify whether the ¥317 million of operating profit required in the fourth quarter will be achieved through an improved gross margin or by controlling SG&A expenses.

The company operates a single segment consisting solely of its shared-shop business and does not disclose operating profit or gross profit by store format or region. As a result, external parties cannot break down whether the risk of missing the operating profit target stems from new-format stores, logistics investment or existing stores. At the fiscal year-end results, the focus will be not only on whether the company achieved operating revenue of ¥7,800 million and operating profit of ¥1,000 million, but also on any revision to the full-year forecasts, the variance in SG&A expenses against plan and supplementary information on store-level profitability within the single segment.