Sapporo Q1 Revenue Falls 4.3% to ¥109bn but Returns to Business Profit on Real-Estate Exit

Sapporo Holdings Ltd. (TSE: 2501), the Tokyo-based brewer behind the Sapporo and Yebisu beer brands as well as a sizeable food-and-soft-drinks business, reported its first-quarter results for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026 on May 14, 2026. Revenue from continuing operations came in at ¥108,979 million, down 4.3% from ¥113,909 million in the same period a year earlier — a decline the company attributes in part to the pronounced seasonality of its domestic and overseas beverage demand, with the first quarter typically the weakest of the year. Despite the softer top line, profitability improved markedly across the board.

Business profit — the group's own measure of recurring earnings, defined as revenue less cost of sales and selling, general and administrative expenses — turned positive at ¥586 million, a swing of nearly ¥1.6 billion from the ¥1,002 million loss recorded a year earlier. The operating loss narrowed to ¥2,108 million from ¥2,332 million, and the pre-tax loss improved to ¥2,068 million from ¥3,895 million. The loss attributable to owners of the parent shrank to ¥878 million from ¥4,222 million, with the basic quarterly loss per share narrowing to ¥2.25 from ¥10.84. Total comprehensive income for the period was a positive ¥3,035 million, reversing a ¥7,839 million comprehensive loss a year earlier.

Real-estate business reclassified as discontinued operations

A key structural change shapes the quarter's reporting: Sapporo has classified the real-estate business operated by subsidiaries including Sapporo Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. as discontinued operations in the prior fiscal year. As a result, the revenue, business profit, operating profit and pre-tax figures above reflect continuing operations only, with the prior-year comparatives restated on the same basis (hence no year-on-year percentage figures are disclosed for several profit lines). This reclassification reflects the group's previously announced move to monetise its property portfolio and sharpen its focus on its core alcoholic-beverage, food and soft-drink businesses.

Balance sheet and per-share figures reflect 5-for-1 stock split

Total assets stood at ¥637,968 million at quarter-end, down from ¥653,690 million at the end of the prior fiscal year, while total equity was ¥216,234 million versus ¥220,117 million. Equity attributable to owners of the parent was ¥214,923 million, lifting the owners' equity ratio to 33.7% from 33.5%. All per-share figures reflect a 5-for-1 common-share split that took effect on January 1, 2026; per-share metrics are calculated as if the split had occurred at the beginning of the prior fiscal year, with the weighted-average share count at roughly 389.8 million shares.

Full-year guidance reaffirmed; dividend set at ¥40

Sapporo left its full-year FY2026 forecast unchanged. The group guides to revenue of ¥505,000 million (−0.4%), business profit of ¥22,000 million (−12.0%) and operating profit of ¥6,000 million (−75.4%) — the steep operating-profit decline reflecting the absence of one-off property gains within continuing operations. Profit attributable to owners of the parent is forecast at ¥296,000 million, equivalent to EPS of ¥759.28; the outsized bottom-line figure stems from the gain expected on the disposal of the discontinued real-estate operations. The annual dividend forecast is ¥40.00 per share (¥20.00 interim + ¥20.00 year-end) on the post-split share base, unchanged from the most recent guidance.

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