The Lawson Group Sweeping Transformation Executive Committee entered its third year of operation in FY2022. The Committee was launched to realize our Challenge 2025 medium-term vision and mark our 50th anniversary in 2025. We are working to increase the degree of execution of each Committee project, resolve medium- to long-term issues to help ensure sustainable growth for the Lawson Group as a whole, secure new earnings opportunities, and improve job satisfaction. In addition, we have set a strategic concept for “community-based × individual customer and individual store-focused operations” and introduced a company system in some areas to strengthen frameworks for actively creating customer value in frontline locations, which are much closer to customers. We have been promoting measures to strengthen each individual area.

The number of COVID-19 infections over the period had been declining from the August peak but then started climbing again from October. Despite that, overall movement of people still remained on an upward trend.

In Domestic convenience store business, we have been expanding the range of products for everyday use, such as frozen foods, renovating stores, and establishing frameworks to enable us to better satisfy customer demand. We renovated 1,865 stores in the first nine months from March to November, bringing the total number of renovated stores to 6,170 stores at the end of November 2022. Along with those renovations, we have also continued to introduce Machikado Chubo in-store kitchen services. As a result, the number of stores equipped with a Machikado Chubo kitchen had risen to 8,970 as of the end of November. We also began handling MUJI products in earnest from May, bringing the total number of stores that offer MUJI products, including experimental stores from the previous fiscal year, to a total of 6,569 stores at the end of November. We also increased the number of stores offering food delivery services to 3,556 stores as of the end of November. We continue to pursue initiatives under our HAPPY LAWSON PROJECT, which we launched in June, to inform as many customers as possible about stores that had been transformed through store renovations or renewed and expanded product ranges. We have developed various measures from the perspective of our customers and the SDGs to help us realize our vision of turning our stores into “new hubs of refreshment in every community” that was announced to mark our 50th anniversary in 2025.

As a result of the above initiatives, existing-store sales in Japan rose 2.9% year on year in the first nine months of FY2022.

With regard to our Seijo Ishii business, sales slackened compared to the previous year’s efforts to capture strong stay-home demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, sales of Seijo Ishii’s own deli items remained firm. Since launching new in-house Central Kitchen in July, we have been working to further enhance the development of deli items and increase the ratio of items produced in house.
Furthermore, after submitting an application to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on September 9, 2022, SEIJO ISHII CO., LTD. subsequently decided to withdraw that application on December 16, 2022 following a comprehensive review of trends in the domestic stock market and other factors. However, we will continue to consider ways of enhancing Seijo Ishii’s corporate value based on the Group’s business portfolio strategy.

In our Entertainment-related business, ticket handling volumes in the nine months from March to November 2022 exceeded that of the same period in FY2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to a recovery in people flows and the enthusiastic holding of more concerts and sports events.

As for our Financial Services Business, we are working to expand the Lawson Bank ATM network and offer a wider range of ATM services. We are also working to increase the number of collaborating operators and financial institutions.

Regarding our Overseas Business, the business environment proved severe as some restrictions on movement and voluntary restraints on going out continued even after the blanket lockdowns in Shanghai and large-scale restrictions on movement imposed across China in April were lifted. However, we worked hard to strengthen food delivery services that are expected to generate greater demand and to expand our store network. Thanks to those efforts, the number of Lawson stores in China had increased to 5,540 stores by the end of November 2022.

Our ultimate aim is to ensure Lawson enjoys the loyal support of all customers. To that aim, the entire Group is uniting together to swiftly grasp social issues and diversifying values and to respond to customer demands, while also contributing to the happiness of the local “machi” community by following through on our three promises: Superior Taste, Human Kindness, and Environmental "Machi" Friendliness.
We ask for the continued understanding and support of our shareholders and investors.