Seven and I Holdings, a major Japanese retailer, says its group net profit for the new business year will be cut by JPY41bn (US$483m) due to the effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The retailer has revised its group net profit forecast for the business year to fall 21.8 per cent from a year earlier to JPY87.5bn (US$1bn), instead of a 14.8 per cent rise to JPY128.5bn (US$1.5bn) projected before the disasters, reports Japan Today.
For the fiscal 2011, Seven & I projects its sales to fall 10.2 per cent to JPY4.6tn (US$54bn), the report said.
The company said that its latest earnings projection was based on conditions the time of the announcement, and could therefore change.
"In addition to its direct impact on stores and products, there is a possibility that consumers' minds could change in accordance with the development of various possible eventualities," Seven & I said in a statement.
Seven & I added that it is striving to reopen stores in northeastern Japan damaged by the disasters to maintain supplies to ravaged areas. The firm said it was also cooperating to save energy at its stores mainly in the Tokyo area to cope with electricity shortages.
US retailer Wal-Mart, meanwhile, announced in late March that it had reopened 12 of its 24 Seiyu stores in Japan closed since the earthquake and tsunami.
The firm said it aimed to open the remaining stores as soon as possible, but couldn't give a date.
