Japan's Seven & i agrees business alliance with H2O Retailing

H2O RETAILING

06/10/2016 07:03

TOKYO, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Seven & i Holdings Co Ltd  3382.T , 
Japan's second-biggest retailer by sales, on Thursday said it 
has entered a capital and business alliance with smaller peer 
H2O Retailing Corp  8242.T , with both companies planning to 
take a 3 percent stake in each other. 
    Separately, Seven & i said it aims to boost annual operating 
profit to 450 billion yen ($4.34 billion) by the business year 
ending Feb. 28, 2021. 
    The operator of Seven Eleven convenience stores last week 
lowered its full-year operating profit forecast for the current 
year ending Feb. 28 to 353 billion yen from an earlier estimate 
of 379 billion yen amid a downturn in consumer spending. 
    In the six months ended Aug. 31, operating profit rose 5.2 
percent to 181 billion yen, the company also said on Thursday. 
 
($1 = 103.6000 yen) 
 
 (Reporting by Tim Kelly; Editing by Christopher Cushing) 
 ((tim.kelly@thomsonreuters.com; +813-6441-1311;)) 
 
Keywords: SEVEN&I RESULTS/