(April 9): Seven & i Holdings Co will delay a public listing of its US convenience-store business planned for later this year, triggering a 4.6% drop in the shares of the convenience-store operator.
Chief executive officer Stephen Dacus had been seeking to revamp the company’s business in the US, including a leadership reshuffle and an overhaul of its US convenience store operations, aimed at preparing the unit for a public listing later this year.
The delay comes as the Japanese firm forecast fiscal full-year operating profit that was below analysts’ projections, driven by weaker traffic and fuel sales in North America as uncertainty fuelled by elevated oil prices looms.
Operating profit will be ¥405 billion (US$2.5 billion or $3.25 billion) for the 12 months ended February 2027, compared with ¥423 billion for the previous period, the company said Thursday. Analysts were projecting, on average, ¥423 billion. Sales are forecast to fall to ¥9.45 trillion, just missing estimates at ¥9.99 trillion.
The delay suggests that the overhaul isn’t progressing well enough to justify an initial public offering of the unit, which was slated for late 2026. Seven & i’s stock is down around 8% this year.
“The current macro backdrop, characterised by elevated oil prices and heightened geopolitical uncertainty, introduces incremental execution risk to Seven & i’s planned IPO,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Lea El-Hage wrote in a report before the results.
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The Nikkei newspaper earlier reported on the delay.
The average price for regular gasoline in the US exceeded US$4 ($5.10) a gallon in April for the first time since August 2022, according to the American Automobile Association, as the conflict in the Middle East disrupted one of the world’s key oil-producing regions. In the US, where its convenience stores are typically attached to gas stations, fuel purchases are a key driver of store visits and often leading to additional in-store spending.
Seven & i is seeking to improve profitability in the US by closing money-losing stores and expanding locations that offer fast food. Restoring and sustaining customer traffic remains central to the retailer’s growth strategy.
Dacus has said the planned listing of its US unit hinges on a recovery in performance in the country where consumption has slowed due to inflation. Proceeds from the IPO are expected to be used in part to fund a share buyback programme totalling about ¥2 trillion through the fiscal year ending February 2030. The company has already repurchased ¥600 billion worth of shares.
North America and Japan account for roughly equal shares of convenience store profit. Seven & i is betting that success in Australia can provide a template for global expansion and a US turnaround.
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