Overseas convenience-store operating profit climbs 19% on fuel gains
Seven & i said the ¥63.84 billion quarterly net profit was above the ¥61.3 billion estimate compiled in a Visible Alpha analyst poll. Second-quarter revenue rose 8.5% to ¥3.081 trillion.
The two main segments moved in opposite directions. Operating profit at the overseas convenience-store business, dominated by North American 7-Eleven, climbed 19% to ¥84.83 billion as higher gasoline selling prices lifted fuel margins. Operating profit at the domestic convenience-store business fell 14% to ¥57.66 billion as lower revenue and higher utility and other costs weighed on results.
“Inflationary pressures and subdued consumer sentiment continue to weigh on our customers and the overall operating environment,” Dacus said.
The company maintained its full-year forecasts, keeping revenue expectations flat at ¥10.430 trillion and projecting a 5.0% decline in net profit to ¥278.00 billion for the fiscal year ending February. Seven & i’s shares have fallen about 12% year to date, weighed down by concerns about weak consumer spending and higher fuel prices tied to the Middle East conflict.
The company in April pushed back the planned listing of its North American business, run as 7-Eleven Inc., to the fiscal year starting March 2027 at the earliest, after the Middle East conflict drove up oil prices and clouded the outlook for gasoline demand. Seven & i had originally planned an initial public offering by the end of 2026.
In August, Mauricio Leyva, a former top executive at Keurig Dr Pepper, became chief executive of 7-Eleven Inc.
The IPO is one of the key measures Seven & i announced in March 2025 to boost shareholder value as it sought to fend off a $47 billion takeover bid from Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, the owner of Circle K. Couche-Tard abandoned the bid in July of last year. Other shareholder-value measures included a $5.4 billion sale of superstores and other businesses and a $13 billion share buyback.
Seven & i has also sought to boost earnings by improving its range of proprietary and freshly made food products.
In July, Seven & i decided not to proceed with a potential investment in Zabka, Poland’s largest convenience-store chain. Couche-Tard subsequently said it planned to acquire Zabka for about $8.6 billion.
Dacus, asked about the company’s European ambitions, said Seven & i remained interested in the region. “We are still very interested in Europe,” he said. “We have options we are looking at in Europe. We have every intention of establishing our business in Europe and expanding from there.”