Aeon Co., Ltd. (8267) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Interpreted] Fiscal 2020 was a challenging year for Aeon in the sense that we were pressed to swiftly respond to the COVID-19 pandemic while also meeting newly emerging needs. Earnings in the first quarter were significantly impacted by factors such as the suspension of operations under the declared state of emergency, but the group's resilience soon came to the fore and earnings started improving thereafter. Even though we upwardly revised our forecasts in December, earnings still came in higher than our revised targets, owing to higher-than-expected food sales growth and ongoing cost control initiatives. For fiscal 2021, we have our sight set on a V-shaped recovery to pre-pandemic levels. On the next slide, I will discuss the situation concerning profit attributable to owners of the parent. Profit was impacted primarily by tenant rent reductions and exemptions during the temporary suspension of shopping mall operations and the loss of sales opportunities, but these were only one-off factors. We also pushed ahead with the strengthening of our management structure in fiscal 2020 in the midst of the extraordinary circumstances brought about by COVID-19. As noted in the blue text in the 4 boxes running down from the top left in the middle of the screen, we booked a loss on the valuation of products owing to Aeon Retail. In other businesses, reducing inventory, and we strongly committed to lowering or exempting rents for tenants, our key business partners, to ensure that we can continue to enjoy mutually beneficial and harmonious relationships. These initiatives had a temporary impact on earnings in fiscal 2020, but we think they will lead to an earnings recovery up ahead, especially considering the improvement in the gross profit margin and our continued ability to operate appealing shopping malls. Also, the decline in extraordinary income and the drawing down of deferred tax assets that you can see on the right are part of plans for longer-term growth in core business operations, and were therefore booked as one-off factors in fiscal 2020. The red text denotes direct impacts from COVID-19. So except for fixed costs incurred during periods of suspended operations, they represent items occurring only in fiscal 2020. During fiscal 2021, the impact of these one-off factors will drop out and further progress will be made with earnings structure improvements. At the same time, we will endeavor to improve our profitability over the medium to long-term as we steadily implement our new medium-term management plan, the details of which I will discuss later on. This slide shows earnings by segment. The Supermarket Business and Health and Wellness Business continue to operate as lifelines to local communities, and both segments posted sharp profit growth. The GMS business was affected by the suspended operations of tenant zones at multi general merchandise stores after the first state of emergency was declared. Also owing to efforts to reduce inventory with the aim of solving underlying issues, the gross profit margin was impacted in the first half of the fiscal year and then recovered in the second half. We also continue to curb structural costs and focused on creating a business structure more conducive to profit generation. With regard to the 4 other segments in the table, namely the Financial Services Business, the Shopping Center Development Business, the Services and Specialty Store Business and the International Business, these were affected by suspended operations and shortened business hours. But as explained during the second and third quarter results briefings, earnings are on a recovery track. The situation remains unpredictable, and it is said that Japan is seeing the advent of a fourth wave of infections. But with the new fiscal year now underway, we will double down on infectious disease control measures, bolster our response to the emerging new normal and further ramp up initiatives in that improving profitability. Next, I will discuss the situation at Aeon Retail. The graph in the middle shows changes in same-store sales by category. Red is food. Green is apparel. The vertical gray bars represent the official number of COVID-19 cases, and the area shaded in pink indicate when states of emergency were in place. When the first state of emergency was declared, sales were hit hard by the impact of people staying home, and especially, by the suspension of operations of specialty store zones at multi general merchandise stores. After that, we did our utmost to implement infection countermeasures and proactively respond to increased stay at home demand. So when the second state of emergency was declared, we were able to boost sales of liquor and food, mainly in the delicatessen category. Over this period, Aeon Retail pushed ahead with various initiatives geared towards responding to the new normal. In addition to expanding the rollout of the Regi go system and online supermarket services to meet customer demand for noncontact, quick shopping trips and with the aim of providing support to regional producers, we also proactively implemented initiatives, enabling customers to enjoy delicious produce from various regions of Japan at a time when going on outings or traveling was being discouraged. At the same time, we redeployed head office personnel to our stores in order to reinforce sales capabilities. Moreover, we took steps to streamline cost management and reduce inventory in an effort to strengthen our management structure. Our new normal related initiatives have steadily gained the support of our customers and have all produced strong results. In the middle of this slide, you can see that online supermarket sales continued to grow sharply, increasing 35% year-on-year in the fourth quarter. At the top right, you can also see that measures aimed at reducing inventory have led to a roughly 20% decrease compared to the start of the fiscal year. As a result, as shown in the bottom left of the screen, the gross profit margin improved quarter-by-quarter after deteriorating considerably in the first quarter when we engaged in thorough going inventory disposal. As a direct result of these initiatives, earnings in the second half recovered to prior year levels. In fiscal 2021, we intend to further develop these measures with the aim of getting operating profit back into positive territory. In the Supermarket Business, over the course of the year, we responded to growing demand for eating at home to swiftly address the mounting demand from customers for quick shopping trips, United Super Markets Holdings, which operates supermarkets in the Kanto region, rolled out its noncontact smartphone-based, self scanning and self checkout service to more than 250 stores within a short timeframe. Meanwhile, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we integrated regional business operations in Hokkaido, Tohoku and Kinki in March last year, and then in Kyushu in September. And in March this year, we merged 2 discount store operators. Going forward, we will work on driving business growth and profitability with a structure capable of responding to changes in the industry. These changes include the increasingly diversifying food-related preferences of consumers, such as the desire to purchase local, lower-priced and healthy products; heightened awareness of product safety and reliability; intensifying competition in the food market from e-commerce operators, drugstores and others; and labor environment changes. As for Daiei, sales growth, gross profit margin improvement and the establishment of a low-cost operational structure meant operating profit and net profit returned to the black for the first time since fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2007, respectively. Daiei is also concentrated on expanding its platform for growth, opening 7 new stores and refurbishing 14 in fiscal 2020. In the Health and Wellness Business, sales of cosmetics and over-the-counter cold medicine were impacted. But the segment still chunked up brisk sales, thanks to stronger sales of infection prevention, goods and products buoyed by stay at home demand, like alcohol beverages and household items. And even during the pandemic, we endeavor to expand our growth platform in this segment by pursuing management integration and opening new stores throughout the fiscal year. From late January, we began to see the drop out of the year earlier rush demand for mostly infection prevention items, paper products and diapers. But even still, sales just this March were up year-on-year. From the second half of fiscal 2020, we actively bolstered this business by recruiting additional pharmacists, and in fiscal 2021 as well, we plan to keep expanding the number of drug stores, able to sell prescription drugs, streamline operations, mainly through labor hour management and work on improving earnings power. Looking at the Shopping Center Development Business, and Services and Specialty Store Business, specialty stores at malls temporarily closed for a period of 7 weeks when the first state of emergency was declared. Earnings were significantly impacted because for roughly half of that time, all of our malls in Japan halted operations, and we offered rent reductions and exemptions to tenants. During the second state of emergency, sales were somewhat affected because business hours were shortened, but store operations are now back to normal. Meanwhile, we made every effort to adopt a variety of infection prevention measures. For example, at Aeon malls, we increased ventilation and installed acrylic partitions on food court tables. Aeon Fantasy introduced machines to wash the metals used in game arcades, and Aeon Cinema refurbished their theaters with partition seats. We have also responded to the new normal by beginning in March 2021, an incremental rollout to Aeon malls nationwide of live commerce events, the service that we introduced on a trial basis for Black Friday in November. While earnings in fiscal 2020 were dented by the temporary closure of malls and tenant rent reductions and exemptions, as long as there is no full-scale curtailment business operations with temporary closure of all malls and so on up ahead, we think our pandemic-preventive measures and new normal response will be sufficient to get earnings properly back on track for a recovery. And even during the pandemic, we have actively pushed ahead with the opening of new malls, and the expansion and refurbishment of existing malls in Japan and overseas. We scaled up our business foundation in Vietnam, a growth market for us, with the opening of our sixth mall in that country last December. In the Financial Services Business, the strict lockdowns imposed in the first quarter in overseas markets in particular, restricted our receivables collection activities. We, therefore, took steps to build up our allowance for doubtful accounts, given that local authorities were also requesting that financial institutions place a moratorium on repayments. In Japan, we set about building up reserves in the second quarter in anticipation of the impacts of an economic downturn and a rise in the unemployment rate. Thereafter, however, the various restrictions and activities were eased and the external environment improved, thanks to the government's special COVID-19 cash payments and other factors. Enhancements to our loan recovery system also had collection activities progress smoothly. As you can see in the table at the bottom of the screen, year-on-year quarterly operating profit was very much up and down during the year. This was mainly attributable to large year-on-year quarterly fluctuations, such as lower expenses in the third quarter, owing to the drop out of considerable marketing campaign costs in the year prior as well as the nonrecurrence of large gains on the securitization of receivables booked in the fourth quarter last year. That said, earnings in the segment came in higher than we expected because good progress was made on reducing bad debt expenses, as alluded to earlier. This slide shows operating profit by geographical area. In the ASEAN region, operating profit in the first quarter was impacted by the buildup of allowance for doubtful accounts, as I explained a few moments ago, but the situation recovered thereafter. In China, we also felt the impact of temporary closures of nearly half of all Aeon malls in the first quarter, but operating profit rebounded to around the year earlier level in the fourth quarter. From around November, the number of COVID-19 cases in ASEAN countries rose once more and some governments moved to enforce a further round of lockdowns. In China, infection spread sporadically through the suburbs of Beijing, but the pandemic has more or less been contained there. It is still difficult to predict how the pandemic will pan out in Japan and elsewhere and what kind of action each country will take up ahead. But at Aeon, we will spare no efforts to implement infection control measures and respond to the emerging new normal so that our customers can enjoy peace of mind when visiting our stores or using our services. As I mentioned at the start, for fiscal 2021, we are targeting a V-shaped recovery in earnings to the pre-pandemic levels of fiscal 2019. And as I just mentioned now, because it is hard to forecast, how things will turn out up ahead and what kind of impact the restrictions or measures in each country will have on our business operations, we have adopted ranges instead of specific figures for our forecast for the operating profit line and below. We want to make certain that we attain our targets in fiscal 2021, the first year of our new medium-term management plan, by achieving strong earnings recoveries in the General Merchandise Store Business, the Shopping Center Development Business, the Services and Specialty Store Business and the International Business. Regarding dividends, we plan to pay an annual dividend of JPY 36 per share, the same as last year. We still paid a dividend in fiscal 2020, despite posting a net loss. So for fiscal 2021, too, we plan to pay a dividend in excess of our profit forecast. As I mentioned earlier, the factors behind the net loss were one-off. For now, we will steadily work towards a V-shaped recovery in fiscal 2021 and get earnings back to where they were in fiscal 2019 before the outbreak of COVID-19. In addition, we will begin executing the 5 growth strategies called for in the new medium-term management plan that kicks off in fiscal 2021, and strive to further raise profit levels even after we achieved the V-shaped recovery. This concludes my briefing on Aeon's fiscal 2020 financial results. Thank you for your attention. Next, I would like to talk about our new medium-term management plan, which is effective from this fiscal year. Today, I will be discussing the items you can now see on the screen in the order displayed. In the first half of my presentation, I will provide a review of the previous medium-term management plan, and I will then discuss our perception of the medium to long-term changes affecting the business environment. After that, I will talk about our new medium-term management plan. First, a look back on our previous medium-term management plan. As you can see, we fell well short of the plan's numerical targets, partly because of the significant impact of COVID-19 in the second half of the period covered by the plan. As a common group strategy, we worked on achieving 4 shifts: regional, digital, Asia and investment. Descriptions of our initiatives are shown in each box at the bottom of the page. For the regional shift, we completed the management integration of General Merchandise Store and Supermarket Business companies in 6 regions in Japan in order to facilitate further dramatic growth driven by community-rooted management. For the digital shift, we concluded business tie-ups with companies both in cutting-edge know-how and technology, including the U.K.-based Ocado and U.S.-based Boxed. At the same time, we've furthered the digital transformation of our stores with, for example, the introduction of Regi go and self checkout services as well as digital signage. We also stand to grow our online customer base by quickly expanding the number of stores that offer online supermarket and in-store pickup services. For the shift to Asian markets, we set up the pace of store openings with the aim of becoming one of the area's biggest shopping mall operators and rolled out new online integrated services. We're continuing with efforts to accelerate business growth in China as the next pillar of earnings is indicated by the return to profitability during the period covered by the previous medium-term management plan. We believe, however, that insufficient progress has been made with regard to group-wide initiatives, such as the building of business models that leverage digital technologies, the establishment of new supply chains and the allocation of investment into growth fields. This slide explains the changes affecting Aeon's business environment. In 2020, the impact of COVID-19 brought about significant changes to customer behavior, sentiment and values. The stark gap in competitive strength is becoming evident between companies that have always made predictions about potential changes to their business environment, and they've been able to respond to those changes and companies that have not been able to do this. The pandemic has also greatly accelerated changes that were already underway, such as the penetration of digital technologies into all facets of our daily lives. This slide shows the more notable business opportunities and environmental changes that we have identified as having particularly significant impacts on our business. The first of these is the rapidly increasing importance of data and the fusion of the online and offline worlds with increasing societal digitization, greater penetration in the society of the IoT and AI and the accelerating shift to cash flows payments. We see these developments as an opportunity for us to capture opportunities for further business growth in both the online and offline realms by pushing ahead with the fusion of digital technologies with our multi-format store network, products, customer data, payment services and infrastructure. The second is the intensification of competition transcending traditional business boundaries, including cross-business format competition in offline business and the growing D2C trend, where Internet companies and manufacturers sell products directly to customers. It is the products themselves that have become the key factor. Possessing a large number of offline stores provides us with an overwhelming advantage that we intend to leverage in order to plan, develop and deploy unique products based on customer feedback, and thereby further enhance our competitive advantage and expand our revenue stream. The third is increasing demand in new health care related areas. Due to increasing consumer health consciousness and interest in boosting immunity, health needs have expanded from conventional disease prevention and treatment to new areas such as presymptomatic treatment. We see this trend as an opportunity to proactively offer new products and services using a cross-business approach in which we integrate the various health-related aspects of business fields, such as apparel, food and household merchandise, sports, pharmaceuticals and finance and other services in addition to pursuing further growth for Welcia, a company that is helping to drive group profit growth. The fourth relates to regional revitalization. COVID-19 has brought far-reaching changes to people's lifestyles and how people work. The things people seek from the regions in which they live are also changing. These factors, in addition to regional population decline and the financial difficulties of local governments, will likely cause a rapid increase in the harnessing of private sector vitality in the regional revitalization efforts that are currently underway around Japan. We view these changes as an opportunity to expand our business domains while engaging in community-rooted management and contribute to the revitalization of regional economies by bolstering our regional shift policy, which we have already been pursuing for some time. The fifth is demographic changes in Asia. It is clear that we cannot continue to rise solely on our existing customer base in Japan, which will shrink together with the shrinking of the general population. In addition to responding to domestic demographic changes to such as increases in the proportions of elderly people and single person households, we believe it will be vital for us to turn the capturing of demand from the rest of the Asia market, the population of which is expected to exceed 5 billion into a new pillar of group growth. The last of the notable changes listed here relates to the rapid increase in people's awareness about environmental issues. So-called ethical consumption based on consideration for the environment and local communities has become firmly established among our customers. And the trend of investors using company sustainability-related initiatives as an investment criterion is becoming increasingly pronounced, as evidenced by the growth in ESG investing. At the end of last year, the Japanese government declared their commitment to making Japan carbon neutral by 2050 and moves such as these show that measures to address environmental issues are no longer seen as limitations on economic growth, but rather as opportunities to generate powerful growth and carry out sweeping socioeconomic reforms. We're forming the product, services and facilities offered by the group's diverse businesses in such a way as to contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society is something that we view as an opportunity for us to help solve societal issues and enhance our corporate value. We drafted our new medium-term management plan with a focus on achieving sustained growth, viewing the many changes to our business environment, such as those I have just outlined as opportunities for the group to achieve dramatic growth. When taking a medium to long-term point of view, we perceived that the changes to the business environment that we'll be facing will be totally different in scale to the environmental changes we've experienced in the past. Responding to such changes requires that we implement significant reforms to our business structure. In order to further clarify our vision for the group in the post-pandemic new normal, we have expanded the period covered by the new medium-term management plan from the usual 3 years to 5 years. First, I'll provide a basic overview. As indicated on this slide, to ensure the stability and sustainability of group management beyond 2025, we have focused our attention on the operating profit margin and will devote ourselves to improving management efficiency. We have positioned the completion by 2025 of the 5 reforms shown here as a common group-wide growth strategy to achieve as we aim for sustained group growth. Our efforts to improve management efficiency will involve aiming to achieve by 2025 the following quantitative targets: Operating revenue of JPY 11 trillion, operating profit of JPY 380 billion and an operating profit margin of 3.5%. We are planning to substantially improve financial indicators by expanding operating profit and will strive to increase the soundness of our financial balance while working to achieve business growth. With regard to nonfinancial indicators, we are aiming to increase our online sales to JPY 1 trillion and aim to become 1 of the top domestic online retailers in terms of scale. Also, as I mentioned at the start, with the decreasing relevance of boundaries, such as those that exist between business categories, online and offline business and manufacturing and retail, it is products themselves that are becoming the key factor. Our private brand products are a crucial element in improving our competitiveness, and we therefore aim to more than double sales of private brand products to JPY 2 trillion. With regard to overseas markets, which will go on to become pillars underpinning group growth, we will increase their overall operating profit weighting to 25%. In real monetary terms, we intend to grow the operating profit of overseas markets by more than 200%, in line with our positioning of overseas markets as pillars that will underpin future growth. With regard to investment, we are planning to invest the equivalent of JPY 400 billion to JPY 450 billion annually, which is similar to the investment amounts in the period covered by the previous medium-term management plan. As the breakdown on this slide shows, we'll be shifting from a heavy emphasis on domestic brick and mortar stores to increase investment in distribution and digital infrastructure and new overseas stores. We will be monitoring progress with improvements to investment efficiency by business and by a policy area, verifying this from the standpoint of ROI and carrying out revisions in a flexible manner. Although the scale of investment will be similar to that of the period covered by the previous medium-term management plan, we will be aiming to balance the establishment of business foundations with investment for growth while securing free cash flow through expanding operating profit. This slide shows planned changes to our business portfolio. We will work as a group to reinvigorate our retail business and transform our business structure into a highly profitable one by converting the strengths inherent in the group's scale into profit through reforming our digital infrastructure, products and supply chains. With regard to the 3 businesses that have underpinned our profit growth, the Financial Services Business, the Shopping Center Development Business and the Health and Wellness Business, we will continue with our current efforts to achieve further profit growth. I will now explain the main group initiatives, aimed at achieving these quantitative targets, the 5 reforms I mentioned earlier. The first of these initiatives is accelerating and further evolving the digital shift. Digital business is the foundation from which we will be advancing all of our strategies, and the digital shift is positioned as the group's top priority initiative. The digital shift will involve a shift from the current focus on brick and mortar stores and sales to seamless experiences fusing brick and mortar stores and online retailing. It will also involve the construction of a shared group-wide data infrastructure, the creation of new revenue models and a complete overhaul of existing business approaches. This shift can be roughly broken down into 3 core policy elements. The first of these is bolstering online business. We'll be working to achieve high levels of growth in e-commerce businesses in addition to existing online supermarket businesses and expand the online customer base. In the longer term, in addition to this bolstering of existing online business during the period covered by the new medium-term management plan, we are also planning the full-fledged launch of a next-generation online supermarket business in coordination with Ocado Group and will be advancing initiatives aimed at achieving topline growth. Some businesses in this field have started off in the red due to upfront investment, and we expect that their contribution to profits will still be small in 2025, but we believe the field has future potential. We are forecasting that online sales will exceed JPY 1 trillion by 2025, and will work on creating the image in people's minds that online delivery equals Aeon. The second element is digitalization at stores, the head office and head office divisions. More specifically, this will involve a focus on streamlining operations, and implementation of initiatives and of enhancing customer convenience, such as the introduction of the Regi go service and automated cashless self checkout registers, which the group's retail companies are already moving ahead with. These are short-term measures that will likely have an impact on profits in the first half of the period, covered by the new medium-term management plan and will be likely to shape the bottom line. The third element is the establishment of a shared group-wide digital infrastructure. This will involve upfront investment in the building of infrastructure to support future growth, the creation of new revenue sources and other measures. More specifically, it will involve building digital infrastructure to convert information such as the customer IDs and payment purchasing data held by each group company into a source of competitive strength. In addition to linking this to the creation of new revenue sources, such as income from advertising, we will also work on improving profits through merchandising that leverages data and AI. As part of the process of constructing this new digital infrastructure, in October last year, we launched a new company called Aeon Smart Technology. General Merchandise Store Business and Supermarket business companies have been proactively promoting existing online supermarket services, and as you can see on this slide, the services have achieved substantial growth. The most recent figures show a 30% year-on-year increase in sales. Online stores have also expanded the range of products they offer, and some have even achieved sales that exceed those of brick-and-mortar stores, showing that steady progress is being made with capturing online shopping demand. We are planning to have Aeon Next, next generation distribution basis for online supermarkets, fully operational by 2023. The basis will incorporate the cutting-edge expertise of the U.K.'s Ocado Group. Unfortunately, there are users who only ever use our existing online supermarket services once and don't return, and we are aware that there is still a large amount of demand that we have been unable to capture. In addition, since there are still no players with a significant share in the market, we intend to move swiftly to build a monetization model and rapidly increase our market share. As is mentioned on this slide, 20% of all customers who visit stores with the Regi go service use the service and spending per customer is approximately JPY 500 higher among Regi go customers than customers who use self checkout registers. The service also helps to enhance productivity with a 30% reduction in cashier work hours. Personnel costs account for approximately 30% of the group's JPY 3 trillion SG&A expenses. We intend to use digital tools to perform some checkout, ordering, shelf restocking and backroom operations work and divert the work hours, thus saved toward generating additional revenue. The second of the main group initiatives aimed at achieving our quantitative targets is the creation of unique value with the supply chain focused outlook. As I mentioned earlier, the boundaries that exist between business categories, online and offline businesses and manufacturing and retail are becoming less relevant. Although it is now easy to compare prices online instead of focusing on competing on price, we will place emphasis on developing private brand products and proposing and planning products with unique value that only Aeon can offer. We see this as the most important domain in the new medium-term management plan, and we believe that steady implementation of these measures will bring about a significant impact on profits. The first of these measures, consolidating national brand demand, enables operating companies to benefit from and monetize such consolidation through utilizing Aeon Global Merchandising, a functional company of the group, and we believe this measure will provide benefits in the short term. As there is variation in the extent of demand consolidation between different group companies, we believe it will be possible to achieve twice as much demand consolidation as current levels. By generating merits of scale in areas such as operational streamlining and costs, we'll be able to translate this into profits at an early stage. With regard to the second of the measures, expanding the range of private brand products, we are considering private brands in 3 different categories and believe this measure will have the largest impact on profits. This slide shows our private brand categories. Topvalu was one of our private brand categories. Until now, we have emphasized reasonably priced private brand products that can compete with national brand products, and this led to the introduction of yellow label best priced products in order to respond to the polarization of consumption. However, we haven't yet introduced sufficient products in areas that aren't yet covered by national brands or products with functions that only we can offer. As the group directly involved in sales floor operations, we can demonstrate our strengths in incorporating customer feedback into the development of such products, and we believe this is an area with profit expansion potential. The second category is local private brands. This category includes agricultural, marine and delicatessen food products and other local products with regional operating companies taking the lead in product development. Making use of processing centers will be the key to creating food products with the kinds of unique value that are important to local consumers. We will be pursuing this initiative with a focus not only on rationalization of in-store food processing work, but also on how we can transform in-store food processing into a function, able to offer delicatessen products that can compete with the restaurant industry. Translating this vision into practical operations will take time so the impact on profits will still be limited by the end of the period covered by the new medium-term management plan, but we expect the profit contribution of initiatives to be substantial over the long term. This slide shows one example of a local private brand called Nigiwai Tohoku. The Nigiwai Tohoku product lineup is being expanded. And as you can see, now includes not only fresh produce procured directly from local producers, but also delicatessen products made using locally produced ingredients and also processed food products created in collaboration with local manufacturers based in Tohoku. By offering the unique kinds of products that only Aeon provide, we are enhancing the appeal of our stores and translating this into increased revenue, while also simultaneously contributing to the revitalization of local industries. The third category is specialty private brands. We are working to accelerate the development of highly specialized products in highly specialized areas such as Welcia's health and beauty care range and Cordon Vert's liquor range. Through such initiatives as these together with overall supply chain optimization, we are aiming to create rich and diverse global, national and local product lineups and achieve high profitability levels. The third growth strategy initiative is the development of Health and Wellness Business suited for a new era. In the Health and Wellness Business, Welcia has established its position as #1 in the drugstore industry, and it has become one of the pillars which drive the group's profit growth. We will boost the growth of Welcia through group-wide collaboration. In addition, we will utilize the digital infrastructure mentioned earlier in order to visualize customer health care data and offer comprehensive cross-business product and service proposals that meet customer needs. In the Drugstore business, which is a growth sector, we will further increase the number of Welcia's store openings and aggressively implement the expansion of its product lineup to include food and home improvement retailer type products. Furthermore, we will strengthen business in the health care field through group partnerships to create health care malls, able to respond to presymptomatic treatment and nursing needs in addition to prevention and treatment needs. Under the new medium-term management plan, we intend to continue consolidating our position as the leading company in the drugstore industry. The next initiative is the creation of Aeon lifestyle spheres. Rather than limiting our approach to creating economic spheres, we adopted to use the term lifestyle sphere with the intention of working from the perspective of consumers toward bringing more convenience and enrichment to people's daily lives. As the next step in the regional shift that we've been pursuing, we will build Aeon lifestyle spheres to contribute to regional revitalization to provide the services required by each region and to augment social capital. We will implement this step by combining regional bases, such as malls, which will form the core of the lifestyle spheres, payment services, such as WAON, and digital technologies, in addition to the aforementioned digital product and health and wellness reforms. As you can see on this slide, we are making progress with a regional shift and management integration is beginning to have an impact. The aforementioned local private brand initiative being an example of this. To give another specific example, Aeon Tohoku, which underwent integration last year, has generated a large integration effect through the initiatives shown here. With the new medium-term management plan, we will continue to contribute to local communities and our customers who reside in them through our business activities from the perspective of regional economic revitalization and solving issues facing regional cities. We will create a virtuous cycle in which Aeon growth contributes to regional prosperity. Finally, there is a further acceleration of the shift to Asia. We will deploy the strategy outlined thus far to the rest of Asia also. But since online retail growth is surpassing brick and mortar retail growth in the Asian market, we will adopt this strategy of pursuing the simultaneous expansion of the brick and mortar store network and online business. Regarding the speed of overseas growth, as you can see in the graph, operating profit returned to positive territory in the China region during the period covered by the previous mid-term management plan, and the profit margin exceeded 6% as of fiscal 2019. In the new medium-term management plan, we will continue to harness growth in Asia and aim to more than double operating income. As an example of a specific initiative, we will accelerate store openings, including 20 Aeon Mall stores over the next 5 years as well as other multi-format stores while simultaneously integrating these with digital business. In China, we will advance General Merchandise Store Business initiatives that utilize cutting-edge digital technology, starting with the Aeon Digital Management Center established in 2019. Furthermore, in the ASEAN region, we are advancing collaboration with Boxed, a U.S. e-commerce site with which we are partnering. Our plan is to develop a new pillar of revenue by effectively utilizing existing brick and mortar stores, launching the online Supermarket business in the first half of this year and then expanding to the online marketplace and B2B business. I will end my explanation of the group's growth strategy here. Aeon has long been focused on social and environmental contributions with tree planting activities being one example of this. Recent societal trends have led to a rapid increase in the importance of environmental considerations. In the new medium-term management plan, Aeon has placed particular focus on the environment and will accelerate efforts towards decarbonization. The main initiatives are divided into the 3 areas shown on this slide. In particular, with regard to energy initiatives, which have a large CO2 emissions reduction effect, we will switch to using green, renewable energy at our shopping centers and stores. Here, you can see our initiatives for resource recycling and harmonious coexistence with local communities. As a concrete target, we've leaned the switch to use of renewable energy at all 150 Aeon malls in Japan by 2025. The final year of the period covered by the new medium-term management plan. This is equivalent to about 20 gigawatt hours of green energy. Aeon Mall Ageo, as shown on this slide, is already operating using 100% renewable energy, and this approach will be expanded nationwide. After that, we will continue to expand these initiatives to Aeon Retail and Aeon Town Stores and other facilities, and are looking to raise our renewable energy adoption rate in Japan to 50% by 2030. In addition, we will extend this toward indirect CO2 emissions throughout our entire supply chain, including logistics, and accelerate efforts towards achieving decarbonization as rapidly as possible. Here, you can see the environmental initiatives, which we are working on from the customer's perspective. For example, the Financial Services Business will provide customers with preferential interest rate packages for household solar power generation and electric vehicles. Customers can then visit our stores with their electric vehicles and discharge them at electric vehicle charging stations at our stores, and we will deploy a model in which Aeon, in this way, purchases surplus renewable energy generated at customers' homes. To meet the need to realize a sustainable society, all shopping centers will operate on renewable energy and Topvalu products will be designed to be community and environment friendly. Furthermore, through group-promoted tree planting and development of community-based forests, we'll create natural habitats together with customers and encourage initiatives aimed at absorbing CO2. This is what Aeon envisions when we think of sustainable living, together with customers and local communities. In this way, customers can play a role in solving environmental problems by living in an Aeon lifestyle sphere. Aeon will continue to innovate with its products, services and bases. And by deepening our relationship with our customers, we aim to both achieve sustainable corporate development and help solve societal problems. Lastly, I will summarize the positioning of the 5-year period covered by the new medium-term management plan. While we recognize that the impact of COVID-19 will linger in fiscal 2021, we intend to restore profits to fiscal 2019 levels while beginning work on implementing our group strategy. During the first half of the period covered by the new medium-term management plan, we will promote the building of a business foundation by making future-oriented investments, while also increasing cash flow generation capacity by implementing short-term measures. The second half of the 5-year period is when we will aim to establish a business foundation that supports sustainable growth as we forge ahead toward 2030. Looking back on the growth of the group so far, we've been quickly recognize where customers gather and have set up commercial facilities in those places. When rail was the primary means of transportation, the shopping streets in front of the stations developed. In that era, anticipating future modernization and new town development, we responded early on by transitioning to citing large-scale malls in suburban areas. At the same time, we also transformed the company itself in response to these changes in the business environment. Now we must shift to digital business, that is we need to shift a new to where customers are now gathering. The fusion of digital business and brick and mortar stores will make possible business models, which were not possible before, and we would like to use such business models to create new value and generate new profits. This concludes my explanation of the new medium-term management plan.

[Interpreted] My first question is, how do you define the roles of the holding company and operating companies and putting your medium-term management plan into action? Can you give us a picture of how it will work? Will, for example, the holding company be responsible for your digital infrastructure while devolving more authority for regional operations to local management? Second, the one-stop shopping concept that President Yoshida has been talking about for a while now has truly come to make sense to me over the past year since the COVID-19 outbreak. On a personal level, I find it truly convenient to be able to buy all the products I'm looking for at one location. The addition of online services to this approach will create the ultimate one-stop shopping experience. What specific online services do you think you need to add? What elements do you think you need to strengthen as you look ahead to your vision for the end in 2025 of the period covered by the medium-term management plan and even further to 2030, including factors relating to your shopping mall tenants and other factors.

[Interpreted] Your suggestion is close to what we are thinking, especially with regard to the regional shift and devolving authority to local management, which we rate highly so far. Following management integration at Aeon Kyushu and Aeon Hokkaido, they have become companies with a strong presence in the respective regions. Another aspect of this issue is that every region, including local government, is aware of the challenges relating to regional revitalization. In this context, region-based management will become increasingly crucial. Regional decision-making should be the role of regional top management. Meanwhile, the holding company definitely should be responsible for building the group's shared digital infrastructure. Centralizing and analyzing customer data and IDs to facilitate approaches to customers will mean digitally sharing the advantages that come from big data. Data has become extremely valuable and has become a keyword in online business. The holding company will play a leading role in gathering and monetizing data and generating group synergies. However, our basic stance is to devolve authority. So we will strike a balance between the holding company's role and local companies taking responsibility for their own management and operations. The holding company will also take the lead to some extent when it comes to shared Aeon branding and products. Topvalu and product procurement and so on are areas where the holding company must take the lead while maintaining close communication with group companies. Regarding your other question about one-stop shopping, the value of our standalone general merchandise stores as opposed to those that are located within malls, has been reaffirmed during the COVID-19 pandemic. While offline and online sales can be regarded as separate channels, customers do not necessarily buy either only online or only offline consistently. They switch between physical stores and online shopping. The way consumers use online supermarkets is a good example. They may use the service if it suits their schedule on a particular day. One day, they might go out shopping, but on another day, they might shop online for home-delivered groceries or pick up the groceries at a drive-through collection point on the way to collecting their children from school. Providing different channels that can fit in with customers' schedules means increasing contact points with customers, which is essential when it comes to one-stop shopping. As for shopping malls, they must provide more services, including those of a public nature. The pandemic made us realized that we must provide more medical, health and wellness-related services going forward.

[Interpreted] My first question is, what is your operating profit breakdown by business segment for fiscal 2021? I know that the Supermarket Business drove group operating profit in fiscal 2020, will fiscal 2021 be more like fiscal 2019? Or will the Supermarket Business drive profits again as a result of changes to the profit breakdown resulting from the pandemic. Second, how do you see the consumption environment during the period covered by the medium-term plan? In particular, what do you think of the growing price consciousness trend? Aeon's response may be reflected in group product procurement in private brands, but can you be more specific?

[Interpreted] We think it will be difficult to return to the same profit breakdown as fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2021 since we are still living with the virus. Although progress will be made with immunization, we think the business environment will remain the same. As we noted in the Financial Service section of the presentation, it will take time for the Financial Service Business to recover from the lower loan balance situation. Our 3 business pillars in fiscal 2019 were the Shopping Center Development, Financial Service and Health and Wellness Businesses. In fiscal 2021, we forecast that Retail will have a slightly increased weighting. We have paired down expenses in the Supermarket and General Merchandise Store businesses, and the topline of the Supermarket business remains stable. Lifting the profit, weighting of retailing will provide the Financial Service Business with extra time to recover. I believe these factors will all combine to improve profits. Our forecast for the current fiscal year is that we can maintain profit levels as a result of the recovery of our traditional 3 earnings pillars and by controlling expenses in the supermarket and General Merchandise Store businesses. Our assumption regarding the consumption environment during the period covered by the new medium-term plan is that the impacts of COVID-19 on the environment will persist. We expect the polarization and consumption to become more pronounced. Our strategy for the discount store business is to harness economies of scale, including pursuing management integration. We've also started experimenting with new business formats. To reiterate what we said about Topvalu, we will ensure that we provide a good range of value-added products. It's vital that we address the polarization of consumption as a key factor in the operating environment during the period covered by the new medium-term management plan.

[Interpreted] My impression at present is that the price consciousness trend hasn't yet become all that pronounced. When do you think it will emerge?

[Interpreted] Our impression on the ground is that it started in early autumn 2020. First, there was a spending rush where customers were more concerned about securing the products they wanted than thinking about prices. But once this passed, we think they became more price sensitive. The sales volume of Topvalu best priced products has increased significantly.

[Interpreted] In your past medium-term management plans and long-term visions, you presented big schemes. And while you have, in fact, increased the scale of your business, you have not always achieved the results you aimed for. Despite these grand visions, you have continued to miss significant profit targets. My impression is that a year after you become President, you now have more clarity about what each group company must do to make your vision a reality following devolution of authority. In view of past challenges and lessons learned, what is the difference between the new medium-term management plan and previous ones? Is it devolution of authority? Do you have a sense of whether the new plan will work? And my second question. The General Merchandise Store and Supermarket Businesses have combined sales of JPY 6 trillion, but an operating profit margin of only 0.5% or thereabouts. They are recording substantial impairment loss because they were investing, despite weak profitability. Although they are making some progress in improving cost structure and productivity, some of your competitors have operating profit margins of 4% to 5%. You spoke about prioritizing profitability. So my second question is, to what extent, can the General Merchandise Store and Supermarket Businesses drive overall profit improvement? How will you make this happen?

[Interpreted] When formulating the new medium-term plan, we discuss the plan's workability with the management teams of each operating company in great depth. We engaged in discussions about what operating company should do in the context of the overall direction we had in mind. And the new medium-term management plan is the fruit of those discussions. The plan is easier to grasp this time around because we've communicated closely with all operating companies and clearly identified what actions they should take. With the most recent executive appointments, for example, we have clearly identified who is responsible for the 5 major reforms, such as those relating to our digital shift and products. Thus, the new medium-term management plan is acceptable to the operating companies. I believe this is a key point that improves its implementability. None of those involved would say they're hearing what I've spoken about today for the first time. It's a medium-term management plan that they took part in putting together.

[Interpreted] It must be difficult in such a large-scale organization for headquarters and those out in the field to keep in step with each other. How do you deal with that issue?

[Interpreted] The holding company devised the first graph of the plan, and in putting it into action, it liaised with each operating company in order to adjust the plan until it reached its final form. We continued and repeated this process over a long period with both myself and the Chairman actively participating. To go back to your second question, this is our basic approach. We view the recording of losses, including those we plan to record this fiscal year as being akin to us shedding our skin as we head to the next stage of our growth. It is a strategic decision made based on a medium to long-term perspective. We began restructuring our inventory and fixed assets to go back to the basics of improving asset efficiency. We recorded inventory valuation loss, which negatively affected gross profit, but we are gaining a sense that the recovery from that is gaining traction. We have advanced various reforms targeting personnel and facilities expenses, both fixed costs, which we planned for in fiscal 2019, specifically reducing the size of Aeon Retail's headquarters and relocating certain functions to stores was one of the measures we implemented in fiscal 2020. This process was then replicated in other group companies, which led to fixed cost savings of over JPY 40 billion. In addition, variable costs were also reduced as a result of a range of streamlining measures. This is the foundation for our profit structure in fiscal 2021, and for the new medium-term management plan as well. Meanwhile, the Financial Service business is pursuing if there are restructuring program, but its goal is to invest in cashless services by working to recover to previous profit levels rather than attempting to achieve a rapid V-shaped recovery. We are evaluating every company in each segment and are working with each company to manage their progress in implementing the medium-term management plan. Although the process is still underway, we are rigorously revising individual plans for each and every Services and Specialty Store Business company. We would like to refrain from disclosing any concrete figures, but this is what we've been doing in terms of management structure.

[Interpreted] So far, you have rapidly increased sales and assets. Am I correct in thinking that your new medium-term management plan is based on what you have agreed with operating companies after slimming down unprofitable businesses and assets, pairing fixed costs and streamlining operations? Or in other words, is a medium-term management plan based on a more solid foundation than previously?

[Interpreted] That's right. As a result, we also thoroughly drew down deferred tax assets, although that is a onetime factor. This is not something we can manipulate. When our earnings recover, we'll get it back in the form of profit. You can say that we implemented the second step of our structural reforms in fiscal 2020.

[Interpreted] What are your frank views regarding the recording of your largest ever loss attributable to owners of the parent? As well, what effect do you think the government's expansion of the target areas for priority measures against COVID-19 will have on earnings?

[Interpreted] During the process of implementing business reforms with an eye to life after COVID-19, we took steps to address all outstanding issues. In the General Merchandise Store Business, we performed a cost review covered around JPY 10 billion and began a process of clearing out inventory and resuming normal operations, thereby bringing a measure of closure to those issues. Each earnings result figure has meaning. And at the briefing, we broke down the loss attributable to owners of the parent and provided an explanation. With regard to the expansion of COVID-19 countermeasures, I expect that the central government and others will be issuing requests to restaurants and other businesses. Our top priority is preventing the spread of infection, and we'll continue taking rigorous measures to this end. We'll also continue investing to ensure the safety of our facilities. We made substantial investments last year, and we will do so again this fiscal year.

[Interpreted] You mentioned that the new medium-term management plan had been discussed extensively with operating companies so that you could reach agreement. However, the JPY 1 trillion in online sales, the regional shift and the JPY 2 trillion in private brand sales will surely be difficult to achieve without truly organic collaboration between the holding company and group companies. How are you thinking of reaching agreement on functional issues, such as the regional shift as well as online sales? And what kind of approach are you envisaging? I'd like to ask you to explain this point once again because I believe it was one of the points you regret about the previous medium-term management plan. I also note that although the medium-term management plan target is JPY 1 trillion, your current online sales only amount to JPY 70 billion. While there are examples like Walmart's online to offline approach, and click-to-collect services, what kinds of models will you be using for your online business? What KPIs will you be using? How is the Aeon Group working toward achieving this target within multiple business formats, including the General Merchandise Store and Supermarket Business? I find it difficult to visualize your approach to online business, including as banks such as user interfaces and so on. Do you have any concrete ideas about how your online business is going to change over the next year or two?

[Interpreted] To answer your first question, digital initiatives, such as customer ID integration and customer visualization must be managed, to some extent, by holding company headquarters. Companies pursuing this on their own will not produce the desired results. However, in principle, companies will each proactively develop their own online businesses. Aeon Retail, United Super Markets Holdings and Daiei are, for example, aggressively growing their online supermarket businesses. Growth rates are around 130% to 140%. That being said, these services are still unrefined and have limited capacity and are not fully capable of meeting demand with some customers not being able to reserve their preferred delivery times. Once these kinds of issues are resolved, the business has substantial growth potential for each of the companies concerned. Further, sales of many of our products are rapidly shifting to online channels. Aeon Retail's gift items and school bags being good examples of this. We have products that are suited to online sales. Some customers who buy online select their purchases through websites, while others will check out products in-store before going home to buy them online. These customers are utilizing each channel in effective ways. Stores with strong online sales also have strong in-store sales. Customers buy products that they find appealing via the channels they find most convenient. Since we have an extensive product range, I'm confident that we can capture a substantial share of the online market, if we make products available both online and in stores. Secondly, once we've successfully integrated our group-wide data, we'll be able to engage in more personalized marketing. Customers will become more visible to us such as Supermarket Business customers who also visit General Merchandise Store Business sales floors to buy school bags, for example, and this will enable us to target customers much more effectively. Although I can't disclose the details at this stage, we are prioritizing digital business to the extent that we have placed an Executive Vice President in charge of it with the authority to advance a range of initiatives in this area. We believe that it will be left behind if we fail to take action quickly in this area over the 5-year period covered by the new plan. We must take the initiative to ensure that customers find Aeon's online delivery services to be the easiest to use and come to associate online delivery with Aeon in their minds. The online market is growing and the fact that we have more work to do to meet demand could be interpreted as an indication that there is tremendous scope for us to engage in further development. Regarding our regional shift, our vision is for unique management structures. And by that, I mean, regional companies to be created in each region. Aeon Kyushu operates multiple store formats in Kyushu as does Aeon Hokkaido in Hokkaido. These companies will capture regional demand by running businesses that are firmly rooted in the respective communities. At the same time, they can expand the scope of their businesses by also offering to their customers the national and global brands developed at headquarters. However, they'll have to base their business on the needs of their own region, and they will need to increase the weighting of daily use products that are more everyday in nature.

[Interpreted] You have set an ambitious target of JPY 1 trillion in online sales. Specifically, how will you go about achieving sales of this scale? Second, other e-commerce competitors have achieved a double-digit operating profit margin. I assume you expect digital business to make a substantial contribution towards your goal of raising the Aeon Group's overall operating profit margin, but what is your target profit level? And what measures will you need to bolster in order to reach your target?

[Interpreted] Firstly, we'll solidly increase profits in the online supermarket business. Secondly, we'll work on the Ocado business. The customer fulfillment center for the Ocado business is scheduled to open in 2023. We'll also strengthen our e-commerce business centered on specialty stores like COX, whose [ Mass.com ] business was featured in our video earlier today. Further, we will advance the digitalization of our services. An example of this is how Aeon Financial Service is now concluding insurance contracts with customers online. We're targeting JPY 1 trillion in online sales through the combination of all such initiatives. Secondly, the Ocado business model relies on upfront investment, which means that we'll face large start-up costs in 2023. We, therefore, do not expect the profit levels of the Digital Business as a whole to reach by 2025 the kind of profit levels you mentioned earlier. This is an effort that looks ahead to 2030. However, the digital initiatives underway at operating companies are well on the way to turning profitable. Although not on par with online competitors, we believe these businesses will make a significant profit. We are unable to disclose specific percentages, but Aeon Retail's online supermarket business, for example, is beginning to turn profitable. It initially made a loss and went through a period of trial and error, but we can now see the level of which expenses will stabilize and so on. In terms of organization, each operating company has appointed their own Head of Digital Business and has switched to tackling it as a business with its own leaders and organization instead of how it had been positioned over the last 3 to 4 years is more of a company initiative.

[Interpreted] In growing online sales, I assume you are mainly targeting new customers because it would be pointless if retail store sales simply shifted to online sales. What is the incentive or rationale for customers to use Aeon's online to offline and e-commerce services instead of other well-established e-commerce channels like Amazon and Yahoo, and the online supermarket services of other companies? Second, what is the scale of the investments you are currently looking at? And what is your investment criteria? I assume you are considering additional alliances with other digital and retail businesses, but what is your stance on M&A?

[Interpreted] We want to make the most of having physical offline channels, unlike companies that only sell online, our concept is to enable customers to choose from multiple channels in a way that suits their circumstances. For example, when we go ahead with customer ID integration, we can expect to attract new customers of Aeon Pet, which currently offers no online services, launches such a service utilizing our membership based data, including data from the Aeon Card membership base. We are currently preparing various schemes, and we'll be putting them into action. We are admittedly coming from behind, but to put it another way, we have plenty of growth potential, both Aeon Financial Service and Aeon Pet need to catch up with their competitors in some areas. As latecomers, we can draw on lessons from successful case studies and use Aeon's customer base to bring about positive results. The scale of investment under the new medium-term management plan is JPY 400 billion to JPY 450 billion per year. We will check investment plans thoroughly at the planning stage and during the fiscal year so we can have flexibility in how funds are allocated while also monitoring implementation. Since fiscal 2021 is the first year of the plan, our policy is to allocate a large share of funds to digital businesses and other business where we can recover invested funds quickly. This fiscal year, we plan to increase the weighting of investment in digital business, distribution and the ASEAN region. That change in rating is a major premise of the new medium-term management plan. We are unable to comment specifically on M&A plans, but as a result, we will go ahead with deals where we can expect synergies and are in agreement with the other party on the direction to take. We have, in the past, engaged in a large number of M&A deals, business cooperation efforts and tie-ups. We will aggressively pursue projects likely to produce synergies.

[Interpreted] Does the JPY 400 billion to JPY 450 billion include M&A-related investment? And could you please explain your investment criteria in more detail?

[Interpreted] Mr. Miyazaki spoke about this earlier in relation to financial discipline. But yes, M&A-related investment is included. We will be taking a flexible approach, including a flexible approach to the amounts we invest. Our investment criteria depend on the nature of the assets that we are investing in, and they vary from company to company. For example, for the Financial Service Business, system-related investment will be at the forefront. The purpose and nature of investments will depend on the business concerned. In the short term, we will be focusing on updating aging supply chains, we're adding new elements to them or look at transforming them in light of digital advancements. The approach will be very different to our traditional x amount of money for a y number of stores investment approach.

[Interpreted] Does that mean that as a rule, you won't be seeking a certain percentage return or an investment recovery within a certain number of years or will instead set flexible criteria, depending on the nature of the business concerned?

[Interpreted] By flexible, I meant that we will be flexible within the stated budget range. Each company has its own investment recovery criteria. The criteria will vary depending on the nature and purpose of the investment in question, such as whether it is investment in system enhancements or real estate, for example. [Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]