Dive Brief:
- Seven & i Holdings, parent company of 7-Eleven, saw its operating income fall over 21% to 421 billion yen, or about $2.91 billion, during fiscal 2024, according to the company’s full-year earnings report.
- In the U.S., 7-Eleven’s same-store sales fell 2.7% in fiscal 2024 and are expected to contract by another 1.5% in fiscal 2025, according to the company’s earnings presentation.
- Seven & i said in its Q3 earnings call that “in 2024 … we were facing a change of the consumption environment that we have never experienced.” That uncertain environment seems poised to continue into fiscal 2025 as rising tariffs further unsettle customers.
Dive Insight:
After a shaky financial year, Seven & i sees modest improvements ahead in fiscal 2025. The company expects its operating income to increase next year but by less than 1%, according to the company’s forecast.
These results come amid considerable uncertainty for the Japanese company. It’s facing a takeover bid from fellow c-store company Alimentation Couche-Tard, parent company of Circle K. At the same time, it’s preparing to welcome Stephen Dacus as its next CEO and planning for a 2026 IPO of its North American operations.
That new entity will “be ideally suited to enhance customer experience by focusing on initiatives specific to the North American market,” said Dacus in a message to shareholders on Wednesday.
Tariff uncertainty could have a particular impact on North American operations. A research note from Wells Fargo said that if the current tariffs stay in place through 2026, real GDP growth in the U.S. will likely stall in Q2 before turning negative in Q3, increasing the risk for a recession.
While Dacus said Seven & i is still planning for an IPO in the second half of 2026, he emphasized that the company “will continue to be mindful of the operational performance of the business as well as the equity market conditions in the U.S.”
