Seria Lifts Q1 Operating Profit 48.7% and Raises Full-Year Guidance as Same-Store Sales Climb 11.6%

Seria Co., Ltd. (TSE: 2782), which runs the Seria chain of 100-yen shops, reported results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027 — the three months from April 1 to June 30, 2026 — under Japanese GAAP. The report is non-consolidated: Seria files parent-company accounts only, so there are no consolidated figures, no line for profit attributable to owners of the parent, and no segment disclosure, the company constituting a single 100-yen shop business. Net sales rose 15.0% to ¥69,601 million, operating profit 48.7% to ¥6,163 million, ordinary profit 50.7% to ¥6,288 million and quarterly net profit 50.1% to ¥4,199 million. Basic earnings per share came to ¥67.01 against ¥37.18, with no diluted figure reported. Alongside the results the company raised both its first-half and its full-year forecasts.

Same-store sales ran 11.6% ahead of a year earlier

The quarter's growth was overwhelmingly organic. Sales at existing directly operated stores reached 111.6% of the year-earlier level, progress the company described as ahead of its own expectations. Seria opened 28 directly operated stores and closed seven during the three months, saying the programme ran broadly to plan after a careful review of site profitability, and ended June with 2,122 directly operated outlets and 33 franchised stores, 2,155 in total. Openings were concentrated in Kanto–Koshinetsu, which took 16 of the 28 and finished with 719 stores; Kyushu–Okinawa added four to reach 235, Tokai–Hokuriku and Kansai three each to reach 404 and 334, and Hokkaido–Tohoku and Chugoku–Shikoku one each to reach 244 and 186. Every region grew: Chugoku–Shikoku led at 117.2% of the prior year, followed by Kansai at 116.4%, Kyushu–Okinawa at 115.1%, Kanto–Koshinetsu at 115.0%, Tokai–Hokuriku at 114.3% and Hokkaido–Tohoku at 112.5%. Kanto–Koshinetsu alone generated ¥25,314 million of the ¥68,914 million in directly operated sales. Under the theme of securing the profits of the survivor, management said it was pushing labour-saving through every part of the business, reviewing product specifications to contain cost increases, strengthening relationships with partners able to offer multiple store sites, and prioritising areas where it has yet to open.

A lower cost-of-sales ratio and operating leverage widened the margin to 8.9%

The profit jump came from two ratios moving at once. The cost-of-sales ratio fell 0.4 point to 58.2%, which the company attributed to solid sales of low-cost merchandise, lifting gross profit 16.1% to ¥29,073 million on a 15.0% sales gain. Selling, general and administrative expenses rose only 9.6% to ¥22,910 million, far behind the top line, so the SG&A ratio fell 1.6 points to 32.9% — an outcome Seria linked to existing stores out-earning the prior year and spreading fixed costs over more volume. Together the two moves took the operating margin to 8.9% from 6.9%. Below the operating line, net non-operating income of ¥125 million carried ordinary profit to ¥6,288 million; an impairment loss of ¥56 million, against ¥25 million a year earlier, was the only extraordinary item, leaving pre-tax profit of ¥6,232 million and income taxes of ¥2,032 million, an effective rate of 32.6%. Tax for the period was computed by applying a reasonably estimated annual effective rate to pre-tax quarterly profit, an accounting treatment specific to quarterly reporting that Seria applies.

Sundry goods carried the top line while confectionery and food shrank

Seria splits sales into three merchandise categories, and one of them is essentially the whole company. Sundry goods — the housewares, stationery, kitchen and craft lines that define the chain — produced ¥69,065 million, or 115.3% of the prior year, and 99.2% of total sales. Confectionery and food fell to ¥479 million, 87.6% of the year-earlier figure, and other revenue, which includes commission income from vending machines installed in stores, edged up to ¥56 million at 104.9%. Purchasing followed the same pattern: total purchases of ¥41,450 million ran at 115.6% of the prior year, with sundry goods at ¥41,076 million (115.9%) and confectionery and food at ¥318 million (84.3%). By channel, directly operated sales of ¥68,914 million grew at 115.0%, franchise sales of ¥553 million at 119.3% — the fastest of the three — and other sales, covering wholesale and overseas, came to ¥133 million at 106.6%.

Earnings per share rose 80% on a share count cut by a sixth

Basic earnings per share of ¥67.01 were 80.2% above the ¥37.18 of a year earlier — far more than the 50.1% rise in net profit — because the denominator shrank. The weighted-average share count for the quarter was 62,671,537, down 16.7% from 75,239,484 in the year-earlier quarter. Shares issued were unchanged at 75,840,000 at both the June quarter-end and the March year-end, while treasury shares stood at 13,168,465 against 13,168,462 three months earlier — a difference of three shares — and the treasury stock line on the balance sheet was flat at minus ¥26,876 million. Seria also states that there was no significant change in shareholders' equity during the quarter. The reduction in the share count is therefore not the result of a buyback executed in this quarter: the 13.17 million treasury shares, equal to 17.4% of shares issued, were already held at the March 2026 year-end, and it is their absence from the year-earlier average that opens the gap between profit growth and EPS growth. The report gives no further detail on when or how they were acquired.

Equity ratio up 1.8 points to 73.9% as liabilities fell

Total assets ended the quarter at ¥128,047 million, ¥634 million below the March year-end. Current assets fell ¥225 million, largely on lower cash and deposits at ¥7,948 million against ¥8,311 million, even as merchandise inventories rose to ¥26,979 million from ¥26,056 million ahead of the new stores. Fixed assets fell ¥408 million, mainly in tangible fixed assets. Total liabilities dropped ¥2,374 million to ¥33,469 million: current liabilities fell ¥1,995 million, chiefly on lower income taxes payable, and non-current liabilities fell ¥378 million, mainly on asset retirement obligations. Net assets rose ¥1,740 million to ¥94,577 million as retained earnings advanced to ¥118,576 million from ¥116,883 million, taking the equity ratio to 73.9% from 72.1% and net assets per share to ¥1,509.10 from ¥1,481.33. Capital expenditure in the quarter totalled ¥1,417 million, of which ¥1,090 million went on buildings connected with store openings and ¥208 million on guarantee deposits, while depreciation was ¥1,374 million against ¥1,264 million. Seria does not prepare a quarterly cash flow statement.

Full-year sales guidance lifted to ¥276.1 billion, operating profit to ¥22.1 billion

Seria revised upward the forecasts it published on May 8, citing existing-store sales running ahead of plan and both the cost-of-sales ratio and the SG&A ratio coming in below plan. For the first half it now expects net sales of ¥136,500 million, up ¥2,500 million or 1.9% on the previous plan, operating profit of ¥10,900 million, up ¥1,000 million or 10.1%, ordinary profit of ¥11,100 million, up 9.9%, and interim net profit of ¥7,300 million, up ¥600 million or 9.0%, for interim earnings per share of ¥116.48 against ¥106.90. Measured against the year-earlier first half — net sales ¥121,382 million, operating profit ¥8,351 million, ordinary profit ¥8,443 million and interim net profit ¥5,652 million — the new plan implies growth of 12.5%, 30.5%, 31.5% and 29.2%. For the full year the company guides to net sales of ¥276,100 million (up ¥2,500 million or 0.9% on the earlier plan and 8.0% on the ¥255,695 million of the year to March 2026), operating profit of ¥22,100 million (up ¥1,000 million or 4.7%, and 5.4% year on year), ordinary profit of ¥22,400 million and net profit of ¥15,400 million (up ¥600 million or 4.1%, and 4.8% year on year), for full-year earnings per share of ¥245.72 against ¥219.08. The upgrade to the first half and the upgrade to the full year are the identical ¥2,500 million of sales and ¥1,000 million of operating profit, so no further improvement has been assumed for the second half. The first quarter alone already accounts for 27.9% of the full-year operating profit target, and the raised first-half plan implies second-quarter operating profit of roughly ¥4,737 million, below the ¥6,163 million just delivered.

Dividend forecast held at ¥80.00

Seria left its dividend plan untouched, forecasting ¥40.00 at the interim and ¥40.00 at the year-end, ¥80.00 for the full year, up from the ¥75.00 paid for the year to March 2026, which comprised ¥35.00 at the interim and ¥40.00 at the year-end — so the increase comes entirely from a ¥5.00 rise in the interim payment. Against the raised earnings guidance of ¥245.72 per share that implies a payout ratio of about 32.6%. The report states explicitly that the dividend forecast has not been revised from the previous announcement. There were no changes to accounting standards, accounting policies or accounting estimates and no restatements during the period, and the quarterly financial statements were not subject to review by a certified public accountant or an audit corporation. No supplementary explanatory material was prepared and no results briefing was held.

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