The current global economic crisis has seemingly not affected Japanese retailer Seven & I, which has this week reported operating profit growth of 7.9 per cent for the third quarter ended November 2008.
Convenience store sales in particular helped to boost the group's results, rising 7 per cent during the three-month period on a year-on-year basis.
The results represent a marked contrast to rival retail group Aeon, which this week announced that operating profit for the first nine months of the financial year had fallen 18 per cent to ¥65.9bn (US$702m).
As a result, Aeon cut its forecast for the year ending February 2009 to between a ¥2.5bn (US$26.8m) profit and a ¥2.5bn loss – down considerably from a previous estimate of ¥11bn-¥15bn (US$117.9m-US$160.7m).
