Ichibanya H1 Operating Profit Falls 17% as Rice and Logistics Costs Outpace 10% Sales Growth

Sales up, margins squeezed

Ichibanya Co., Ltd. (TSE: 7630), the Aichi-based operator of the CoCo Ichibanya curry-rice chain, reported consolidated first-half results for FY2/2027, the six months from March 1 to August 31, 2026, on October 5, 2026 under Japanese GAAP. Net sales rose 10.0% to ¥35,227 million, but gross profit grew only 8.8% to ¥17,364 million as the gross margin slipped 0.6 points to 49.3% on higher prices for rice and other ingredients. Selling, general and administrative expenses, including logistics, rose 13.7% to ¥15,272 million, and operating profit fell 17.2% to ¥2,091 million, a margin of 5.9% against 7.9% a year earlier.

Ordinary profit fell 19.1% to ¥2,191 million. Impairment losses on stores of ¥314 million, against ¥335 million a year earlier, left pre-tax profit down 12.6% to ¥1,872 million, and profit attributable to owners of the parent fell 20.9% to ¥1,095 million, or ¥6.86 per share against ¥8.68.

Collaborations lift spending per visit

System-wide sales at domestic CoCo Ichibanya restaurants, including franchisees, rose 2.9% to ¥47,683 million, and same-store sales grew 2.4%. Customer numbers were flat, but spending per customer rose 2.5%, helped by tie-ups with popular VTubers from hololive production and with the anime film Chiikawa, which brought original menus and limited-edition goods, and by higher-priced limited-time spiced chicken curries. The chain opened two restaurants and closed two, ending August with 1,205 in Japan.

Overseas, system-wide sales rose 14.6% to ¥10,361 million, with same-store sales up 1.1% excluding currency effects on strength in Taiwan and China; the chain opened 11 restaurants and closed nine, for 220 abroad, including a new outlet in March inside Petco Park, home of baseball's San Diego Padres. Domestic subsidiaries, which run Genghis Khan barbecue, tsukemen, motsunabe hot-pot, ramen and parfait formats, grew system-wide sales 62.8% to ¥3,380 million and their store count by eight to 58, helped by the March acquisition of the spice-curry chain Kyu Yamu-tei. Sales of packaged products and e-commerce rose 42.5% to ¥282 million.

Balance sheet and cash flow

Total assets rose 0.6% to ¥48,479 million from February 28, while net assets were flat at ¥32,877 million after dividend payments of ¥1,275 million; the equity ratio eased to 66.5% from 67.0%. Operating cash flow was ¥2,327 million, and cash and cash equivalents fell by ¥821 million to ¥12,227 million.

Guidance kept, second half must improve

Ichibanya kept the FY2/2027 forecast it published on April 6, 2026: net sales of ¥72,600 million (+10.8%), operating profit of ¥5,000 million (+6.0%), ordinary profit of ¥5,040 million (+1.1%) and net profit of ¥2,720 million (+6.1%), or ¥17.04 per share. Reaching it requires second-half operating profit of about ¥2,909 million, against ¥2,091 million in the first half. The annual dividend is unchanged at ¥16.00, paid as ¥8.00 at the half-year and ¥8.00 at year-end.

JapanStockPulse provides informational content only and does not constitute investment advice. Figures are taken from the company's published earnings short report and may be subject to subsequent revision.