Life Corporation (8194): FY2025 Results Summary — Record Operating Revenue for a Third Straight Year

This article is based on publicly available IR materials and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any specific securities.

Life Corporation, a supermarket chain operator, reported consolidated operating revenue of ¥881,325 million for the fiscal year ended February 28, 2026 (FY2025), up 3.6% year on year, and profit of ¥18,822 million, up 4.9%. Growth was driven by existing-store sales, which rose 102.6% year on year on higher unit prices and customer numbers, together with a 0.3 percentage-point improvement in the consolidated gross profit ratio to 31.4%. The Company also plans to raise its year-end dividend by ¥0.5 per share, bringing the FY2025 annual dividend to a record ¥65.5 per share.

Consolidated Results (Full-Year Actual)

A dedicated revenue-trend slide states that operating revenue reached a record high for the third consecutive year, which in real terms (i.e., before the FY2022 revenue-recognition accounting change) represents a 22nd consecutive year of increase. Operating profit rose 2.9% to ¥26,006 million, as an ¥11,576 million increase in gross profit and a ¥1,152 million increase in receipts from operating revenue more than offset an ¥11,992 million rise in SG&A, including an ¥8,295 million increase in personnel expenses from pay raises. Ordinary profit increased 3.3% to ¥27,068 million.

Item	FY2025	FY2024	Amount of Change	Rate of Change	Ratio to Net Sales
Operating revenue	881,325	850,496	+30,829	+3.6%	–
Net sales	848,570	818,892	+29,677	+3.6%	–
Gross profit	266,474	254,897	+11,576	+4.5%	31.4%
SG&A	273,223	261,230	+11,992	+4.6%	32.2%
Operating profit	26,006	25,270	+736	+2.9%	3.1%
Ordinary profit	27,068	26,205	+862	+3.3%	3.2%
Profit	18,822	17,948	+874	+4.9%	2.2%

Segment Results

The materials break out full-year net sales by merchandise department rather than by business segment. Food-department sales rose 4.2% year on year, or 3.0% on an existing-store basis, to ¥756,902 million, led by Delicatessen (+6.3%) and Meat Products (+4.8%), while food items outside the Agricultural Produce department performed steadily on lower prices. Non-food sales declined 0.6% to ¥91,668 million, which the Company attributes to the comparison against a disaster-related demand surge in FY2024 and unseasonably warm winter temperatures.

Department	FY2025 Net Sales (All Stores)	FY2024 Net Sales (All Stores)	FY2025 All-Stores YoY	FY2025 Existing-Stores YoY	Sales Composition
Food	756,902	726,711	104.2	103.0	89.2%
Agricultural Produce	109,174	108,569	100.6	99.5	12.9%
Marine Products	65,658	63,258	103.8	102.8	7.7%
Meat Products	95,399	90,990	104.8	103.8	11.2%
Delicatessen	103,051	96,978	106.3	104.9	12.1%
Processed and Daily	383,618	366,914	104.6	103.4	45.2%
Non-food	91,668	92,181	99.4	98.9	10.8%
Lifestyle Products	68,886	69,337	99.3	98.7	8.1%
Apparel	22,781	22,843	99.7	99.7	2.7%
Total	848,570	818,892	103.6	102.6	100.0%

FY2026 Forecast

For FY2026 (fiscal year ending February 28, 2027), Life Corporation forecasts continued growth in sales and profit, centered on existing-store growth and 10 planned new store openings, assuming 103.5% existing-store YoY sales. The operating profit forecast assumes an expected gross profit ratio improvement of 0.2–0.3 percentage points, an approximately ¥8.5 billion increase in personnel expenses, and an approximately ¥6.4 billion increase in non-personnel expenses and depreciation. The Company notes that the impact of high oil prices from the prolongation of Middle East tensions has not been factored into the forecast.

Item	FY2026 (Forecast)	FY2025 (Actual)	Amount of Change	Rate of Change
Operating revenue	922,500	881,325	+41,174	+4.7%
Net sales	888,000	848,570	+39,429	+4.6%
Operating profit	27,000	26,006	+993	+3.8%
Ordinary profit	28,000	27,068	+931	+3.4%
Profit	19,000	18,822	+177	+0.9%

Shareholder Returns

Life Corporation has paid stable dividends without reductions since listing. For FY2025, the Company plans to increase the year-end dividend by ¥0.5 per share from its most recent forecast, bringing the annual dividend to a record ¥65.5 per share (¥32.5 interim, plus ¥32.5 year-end and the additional ¥0.5 increase), for a dividend payout ratio of 30.1% and a DOE (Dividend on Equity Ratio) of 3.9%. For FY2026, the Company plans a full-year total dividend of ¥70 per share (¥35 interim, ¥35 year-end), forecasting a dividend payout ratio of 31.9%. On capital policy, the Company has conducted share buybacks equivalent to 8% of shares outstanding and cancelled treasury shares equivalent to 8.5% of shares outstanding (in November 2024 and May 2025), and monitors whether ROIC exceeds its cost of capital, which is verified by a third party (external).

Item	FY2025 (Actual)	FY2024
Interim dividend (yen per share)	32.5	25
Year-end dividend, incl. increase (yen per share)	33.0 (32.5 + 0.5 increase)	30
Annual dividend (yen per share)	65.5	55
Dividend payout ratio	30.1%	28.2%
DOE (Dividend on Equity Ratio)	3.9%	3.6%

Medium-Term Plan / Topics

Under its unchanged vision for what it wants to be in FY2030 — a community-based supermarket that “everyone says, ‘It’s my supermarket'” — Life Corporation’s quantitative targets (excerpt) are net sales of ¥1 trillion, ordinary profit of ¥35.0 billion, profit of ¥22.0 billion, a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions (compared with FY2013), employee satisfaction of 4.0 (on a 5.0 maximum scale), and a 20% ratio of female managers. For its BIO-RAL natural-food business, the Company added a new profit target for FY2030: 50 BIO-RAL stores, ¥40.0 billion in net sales, ¥2.0 billion in ordinary profit, and 1,000 private-brand product items. Return on invested capital (ROIC) has consistently exceeded the Company’s weighted average cost of capital (WACC, approx. 5%), and ROE remained at 12.8% for FY2025.

This article is an analysis based on publicly available information and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any specific securities. Investment decisions are your own responsibility.