TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japan's Seven & I Holdings posted a rise in third-quarter profit on Friday as strong post-quake demand for food and consumer goods continued to boost earnings of Japanese general retailers, although Aeon Co's earnings undershot strong year-earlier results.
Many Japanese retailers are poised to earn record profits in the current financial year after the earthquake and tsunami last March increased sales of prepared meals and private-label products, while operating efficiency improved.
But with falling wages, high unemployment and concerns about the health of the Japanese and world economies weighing on domestic consumption, market watchers are expecting sales levels at retailers to face challenges in the near term.
Top Japanese retailer Seven & I's operating profit jumped 17 percent to 66.0 billion yen ($854.7 million) for the September-November quarter in part as convenience store visits by older and female customers stayed high after rising in the aftermath of the March 11 disasters.
But Aeon, Japan's second-biggest retailer, posted a year-on-year drop of 19 percent in operating profit to 25.4 billion yen over the same period.
Aeon faced a higher annual hurdle than Seven & I, after posting a 52 percent surge in operating profit in its third quarter for the 2010 business year.
"Their earnings seem very steady and strong. Even if Aeon came in a little under analyst estimates, there is a sense of direction for these companies and investors can be sure of their strength," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Fund.
"Right now, there is so much uncertainty that investors are shifting to stable stocks with strong earnings that are not easily swayed by outside factors like Europe ... In this risk-off environment, stocks of companies like Seven & I and Aeon will remain attractive."
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Graphic: Seven & I results http://link.reuters.com/fym85s
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Both retailers maintained their operating-profit forecasts for the business year to February 2012.
Seven & I, the owner of 7-Eleven, the world's largest convenience store chain, kept its annual outlook at 286 billion yen, in line with the average estimate of 290 billion yen in a poll of 19 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The forecast is the highest since Seven & I posted a 286.8 billion yen profit in its 2006 business year.
Aeon, the owner of Aeon Retail supermarkets as well as convenience stores, boutiques and shopping malls, kept its operating profit outlook at 195-205 billion yen, which is in line with the average estimate of 199 billion yen in a poll of 13 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
But with Japanese household spending falling 3.2 percent year-on-year in November and retail sales down 2.3 percent, both much weaker than forecast, retailers may struggle to maintain similar levels of profit growth in the 2012 business year.
Shares of Seven & I fell about 1 percent in 2011, while Aeon rose 4 percent over the same period, versus a 17 percent slide in the benchmark Nikkei average.
Before the results were released, shares of Seven & I settled 0.4 percent lower while Aeon posted a 1.0 percent loss, against the Nikkei's 1.2 percent fall for the day.
($1 = 77.22 yen)
(Reporting by James Topham; Editing by Matt Driskill and Michael Watson)
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