Marui Group is preparing a second increase in the fee rate on its installment and revolving card payments, and its November 10 results presentation frames the move as a response to the rising cost of funding. The presentation shows the rate raised in October 2025 from 15.0% to 18.0%, then revised again in the fiscal year ending March 2028 to between 18.0% and 19.8%. The timing is listed as under consideration.
The cost side
Interest expense in the six months to September 2026 was ¥4.3bn, against ¥2.6bn a year earlier. The presentation puts the rise in financial costs at ¥2.1bn year on year, of which ¥1.8bn came from higher rates and ¥0.3bn from a bigger balance. Marui now assumes four policy-rate rises in the current fiscal year, against two in its plan, and has lifted its financial-cost forecast by ¥1bn. Full-year ordinary profit guidance stays at ¥44.0bn, while operating profit guidance rises to ¥56.5bn from ¥55.5bn.
Borrowing is large relative to the book it funds. Interest-bearing debt was ¥820.2bn at September 30, up ¥104.0bn from March, or ¥770.2bn excluding a ¥50bn zero-coupon convertible bond issued in August 2026. Operating receivables were ¥783.9bn. The equity ratio fell to 19.2% from 21.4%. Earlier Tokyo Brief coverage
The company's arithmetic
Installment and revolving balances make up 46% of operating receivables, according to the presentation. Cash advances, 14%, have no room for repricing because of the interest-rate ceiling, and lump-sum payments, 40%, have effectively none. Marui's illustration multiplies a 4.8-point rise in the fee rate (15.0% to a planned 19.8%, measured from the rate before the October 2025 change) by that 46% share to get a 2.2% revenue gain. It sets that against a 2.0% rise in funding rates applied to the whole funding base, a 2.0% cost.
What the October 2025 change has shown
Finance charges on installment and revolving payments were ¥39.1bn in the half, up 24.1%. The presentation says installment and revolving payments held at about 11% of shopping volume after the October 2025 change and expects a similar level after the next one. Marui says the ratio of bad-debt write-offs held at 1.0%, and expects a limited effect on bad debts from the re-revision. The fact book shows the ratio at 1.03%, up from 0.95% a year earlier.
The business is growing in the meantime. Card credit volume was ¥2.63tn in the half, and consolidated revenue was ¥147.0bn. Operating profit rose 16.8% to ¥30.8bn, while ordinary profit rose 10.1% to ¥25.4bn.
The presentation gives no effective date for the new rate and does not say which cardholders or products the 19.8% would cover. It describes a company plan, not a market-wide shift in consumer-credit pricing.