AEON <8267> plunged in afternoon trading. At 1:30 p.m. on the 9th, the company released its earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending February 2027 alongside its consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ended February 2026. For the current fiscal year, the company projects sales of \12.0 trillion (up 12.0% YoY), ordinary profit of \290.0 billion (up 19.3% YoY), and net profit of \73.0 billion (up 0.4% YoY). The modest profit growth forecast appears to have disappointed investors, triggering heavy selling.

For the fiscal year ended February 2026, sales rose 5.7% YoY to \10,715.3 billion, ordinary profit increased 8.4% to \243.0 billion, and net profit surged 2.7x to \72.7 billion. While all segments posted revenue growth, the supermarket, discount store, and financial services segments recorded operating profit declines. One-time costs from structural reforms were offset by bargain purchase gains from the consolidation of TSURUHA HOLDINGS <3391> as a subsidiary. For the fiscal year ending February 2027, the company plans to drive profit growth in its developer, health & wellness, and service/specialty store businesses, which have been performing strongly. The company will also introduce a consolidated tax system in the current fiscal year, aiming to optimize tax efficiency and enhance net profit over the long term.

The company plans an annual dividend of \15 per share for the current fiscal year. Adjusted for the 3-for-1 stock split implemented in September of last year, this equates to \45 on a pre-split basis (vs. \41 in the prior fiscal year), representing a substantial dividend increase.

(Note) The "◇" symbol at the end of the title indicates that this article contains multiple stock issues.

Source: MINKABU PRESS

*Translated by generative AI. Click here for the original article.