Bourbon Corporation

Bourbon announced on July 31 its consolidated results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027, covering April to June 2026, with net sales of 29.212 billion yen, up 3.2% year on year, operating profit of 1.811 billion yen, up 18.7%, ordinary profit of 2.045 billion yen, up 36.3%, and quarterly net profit of 1.432 billion yen, up 41.4%. Of the 29.212 billion yen in net sales, the domestic confectionery business accounted for the bulk at 27.193 billion yen, or 93.1% of the total, up 3.2% year on year, followed by beverages, foods, frozen desserts, alcoholic beverages and other at 1.241 billion yen, or 4.2%, and overseas operations including exports at 777 million yen, or 2.7%. Within domestic confectionery, the mainstay biscuit category drove results, with the Langue de Chat cookie Lubera relaunched for the first time in three years and supported by a television advertising campaign, while the company also worked to expand sales across its original biscuit series. On the other hand, chocolate products struggled with large-bag items, and candy products were hit by intensifying competition, with both falling below year-earlier levels. For the full fiscal year ending March 2027, the company forecasts consolidated net sales of 126.6 billion yen, up 5.2% from the previous year, but operating profit of 5.8 billion yen, down 22.6%, ordinary profit of 6 billion yen, down 25.0%, and net profit of 4.1 billion yen, down 30.7%, a plan for higher revenue but lower profit. The forecast reflects expectations that raw material prices will remain elevated and that packaging material costs will stay high for an extended period amid rising crude oil prices driven by uncertainty over the situation in the Middle East.