Lawson Inc, the Japanese convenience retailer, today (12 October) cut its targets for annual turnover and profits after posting lower half-year results.
The company is now forecasting revenues of JPY430bn (US$5.24bn) for the year to the end of February, down from earlier guidance of JPY435bn.
Lawson said it now sees annual net profit reaching JPY22bn against an earlier forecast of JPY23.8bn. Nevertheless, Lawson’s net profit in its last fiscal year stood at JPY12.56bn after a fraud scandal at its ticket-sales business.
The net profit Lawson earned in the first half of its current fiscal year fell by more than 22% thanks to a series of one-off losses.
The company booked net profit of JPY12.29bn for the six months to the end of August, a drop of 22.6%. Impairment losses at Lawson’s Ninety-nine Plus subsidiary weighed on the bottom line.
Lawson’s operating profit was flat at JPY30.15bn as the figure improved from a first quarter when operating profit was down by more than 8%.
The retailer’s revenues dipped 2.4% to JPY221.21bn thanks to a “delayed recovery” in personal consumption in Japan, although the hot summer in the country boosted ice-cream sales in the convenience channel.
