Ichibanya, operator of the CoCo Ichibanya curry chain, grew sales faster than it grew profit in the six months to 31 August 2026: revenue rose 10.0% to ¥35.23bn, while operating profit fell 17.2% to ¥2.09bn. Ordinary profit fell 19.1% and profit attributable to owners of the parent fell 20.9% to ¥1.10bn, according to its half-year securities report.
What the company blames
The company says higher purchase prices for ingredients, rice among them, and increased logistics costs drove the decline in every profit line. The report gives no separate figure for the rice effect. The income statement shows cost of sales of ¥17.86bn against ¥16.05bn a year earlier, and freight and packing expenses of ¥1.55bn against ¥1.44bn.
Where the sales came from
Ichibanya credits solid same-store sales at domestic CoCo Ichibanya, plus expansion at overseas and domestic subsidiaries. Domestic same-store sales rose 2.4%, with average spend up 2.5%. Customer numbers on a same-store basis were level with a year earlier, so revenue growth in that business came from price per head.
The faster growth was elsewhere. Overseas store sales rose 14.6% to ¥10.36bn, though same-store growth excluding currency effects was 1.1%. Sales at the domestic subsidiary brands, such as the ramen and offal-hotpot restaurants, rose 62.8% to ¥3.38bn as store count grew by eight to 58.
The contrast is one chain's margin experience and is attributed to the company's own cost disclosures. Prior-year half-year sales were ¥32.02bn.
For earlier reporting on the company, see Earlier Tokyo Brief coverage.