Seven & i Holdings said on April 9 that consolidated results for the fiscal year ending February 2026 showed a decline in earnings at its core domestic convenience-store business. Operating profit at Seven-Eleven Japan, which runs the group’s flagship convenience-store operations in Japan, fell 4.7% from a year earlier to ¥222.5 billion (about $1.5 billion).
Its major convenience-store rivals posted record profits, underscoring Seven’s continued inability to escape its own slump. In the fiscal year ending February 2027, the company will also face the challenge of higher crude oil prices amid intensifying tensions in the Middle East, making for another difficult year ahead.
In the fiscal year ending February 2027, Seven & i will complete the separation of its superstore operations, including Ito-Yokado, as well as financial businesses such as Seven Bank, leaving the group to compete in Japan and overseas as a convenience-store-focused company.
Still Falling Short of Rivals
Same-store sales at Seven’s domestic convenience-store business rose 1.2% from a year earlier. Still, higher costs, including advertising and system investment, weighed on earnings and left the segment in the red overall. The shortfall narrowed in the second half of the year, following a weak first half, but the business still failed to return to profit.
Seven & i announced a new management strategy in August 2025, pledging to improve earnings by focusing management resources on its convenience-store operations in Japan and overseas. At an April 9 press conference, President Stephen Hayes Dacus said the reforms were already delivering results.
But competitors continue to pull ahead. FamilyMart, in results announced April 8 for the fiscal year ending February 2026, reported record operating profit. Lawson also posted record operating profit in its consolidated results for the nine months from March to November 2025. With labor and raw material costs rising across the industry, the shared business environment only makes Seven-Eleven’s weaker earning power stand out more clearly.
More Cost Pressure Ahead
Seven & i also said on April 9 that it would postpone the planned initial public offering of its North American convenience-store subsidiary. The listing had originally been scheduled for fiscal 2026, but the company now says it will take place in fiscal 2027.
Many of its North American convenience stores also sell gasoline, leaving the business exposed to volatile market conditions as tensions in the Middle East worsen. Seven & i has said it plans to use proceeds from the partial sale of its stake in the unit after listing to fund growth investment and other initiatives. The decision to delay the IPO appears to reflect a view that the company first needs to lift the unit’s value before bringing it to market.
With higher crude prices expected to raise costs at multiple stages, the business environment is likely to remain tough. That will only increase pressure on the company to show, and soon, that it can pursue a credible standalone growth strategy and produce concrete results.
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(Read the article in Japanese.)
Author: Takehiko Nagata, The Sankei Shimbun