The operators of Japanese convenience store chains 7-Eleven and FamilyMart have reported a surge in profits partly due to an unusually hot summer.
Seven & I Holdings, which operates convenience stores under the 7-Eleven banner, has reported a net profit increase of 91 per cent on the same time last year, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The company, which is Japan’s largest retail group and also runs department stores and the Ito-Yokado chain of supermarkets, reported a net profit of US$460m for the quarter ended 13 August, compared with a net profit of US$244m the previous year.
These figures represent a turnaround for the company, which posted an 11 per cent year-on-year decline in operating profit for the first quarter, the newspaper reported.
Part of the retailer’s success is being attributed to Japan’s extraordinarily hot summer, which sparked demand at convenience stores for ice cream, soft drinks and other seasonal goods.
“There have been contributions from the heat wave especially in our convenience store business,” said Seven & I Holdings president Noritoshi Murata at a news conference on the company’s earnings.
Japan’s third-largest convenience store operator FamilyMart has reported a 15 per cent net profit increase for the first half of the year.
The Wall Street Journal, however, reports FamilyMart’s steep sales gain can be largely attributed to its acquisition of smaller rival am/pm Japan.
Despite these profits, the purchase of household consumables is trending down in Japan, with supermarket sales continuing to fall since their peak in 1997.
Mr Murata told the business publication Seven & I Holdings has shut four Ito-Yokado stores and will close another six in the second half of the year. It will also shut six or seven stores annually in the next two years.
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