AEON's operating profit for the six months to 31 August 2026 rose 10.7% to ¥130.7bn on operating revenue up 13.8% to ¥5.90tn, the company said in its interim earnings release. The slide deck calls both figures records. Most of the growth came from three businesses AEON labels its profit drivers: health and wellness, developer and entertainment, and ASEAN. The retail operations at its core went the other way.
Drugstores supply the scale
Health and wellness operating revenue rose 87.4% to ¥1.28tn and operating profit reached ¥59.7bn, from ¥22.7bn a year earlier. Tsuruha Holdings became an AEON consolidated subsidiary on 14 January 2026, after it made Welcia Holdings a wholly owned subsidiary on 1 December 2025. The segment figure includes ¥4.4bn of goodwill and other amortisation from consolidating Tsuruha.
The deck also gives a simple sum of the segment's pre-Tsuruha-consolidation operations, a like-for-like comparison that excludes consolidation adjustments: revenue up 3.6% to ¥707.0bn and operating profit up 30.0% to ¥33.3bn. Headline revenue growth therefore mostly reflects a bigger group, not stronger shopper demand. On integration, AEON says about ¥8.5bn of Tsuruha's ¥15.0bn annual synergy plan was achieved in the first half, about 57%.
Malls and Vietnam
Developer and entertainment operating profit rose 32.3% to ¥54.2bn. AEON Mall's operating profit rose to ¥44.0bn, and the 32 domestic malls renovated since the 2025 business year posted specialty-store sales up 6.8%. In Vietnam, a new AEON Mall opened in Danang in July, with further malls planned for October and November. International retail operating profit rose 15.0% to ¥5.6bn.
| Segment | Six months to Aug 2026 | Six months to Aug 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Health and wellness | ¥59.7bn | ¥22.7bn |
| Developer and entertainment | ¥54.2bn | ¥41.0bn |
| Financial services | ¥26.1bn | ¥27.0bn |
| International | ¥5.6bn | ¥4.9bn |
| Discount stores | ¥455mn | ¥3.7bn |
| Supermarkets | -¥176mn | ¥12.9bn |
| General merchandise stores | -¥12.6bn | -¥225mn |
Where the stores lost money
General merchandise stores lost ¥12.6bn and supermarkets lost ¥176mn, against a ¥12.9bn supermarket profit a year earlier. Discount stores earned ¥455mn, down 87.7%. AEON points to the end of last year's rice demand boom, higher costs linked to the Middle East, and shoppers' thrift. For the second half it plans a reset of price policy and promotions, a push into the TOPVALU private label, and a cost programme of the same scale as in the second half of the 2024 business year.
Kumamoto charge and unchanged guidance
The release opens with condolences to those who died in accidents at AEON Mall Kumamoto and AEON Mall Uki linked to the Reiwa 8 Kumamoto earthquake, and an apology to the bereaved families, the injured and all those affected. An investigation committee made up solely of outside experts is examining the cause of the explosion. AEON says it will disclose its report promptly on receipt. The disaster loss in extraordinary losses was ¥4.2bn, against ¥6mn a year earlier, and is mainly earthquake damage on information available at period end.
Full-year guidance is unchanged: operating revenue of ¥12tn, operating profit of ¥340.0bn and net profit of ¥73.0bn. Interim net profit was ¥13.3bn, up from ¥4.0bn, or 18.2% of the annual target; operating profit stands at 38.4% of its target. The second-half food-retail fix and Tsuruha's synergy ramp now carry the full-year target.