By Kosaku Narioka and Ronnie Harui

Seven & i Holdings more than doubled its quarterly net profit, supported by stronger earnings at its convenience-store businesses, as it seeks growth on its own after the Canadian owner of Circle K ended its pursuit of the Japanese rival.

The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven said operating profit increased for both its domestic and overseas convenience-store businesses for the three months ended August. The bottom line was also boosted by a sharp drop in special losses from the year-earlier period, when it booked large losses related to restructuring efforts.

Now that Seven & i no longer has to deal with Alimentation Couche-Tard's takeover talks, management could focus more time and resources on improving its services and operational efficiencies. However, it would take time for such upgrades to happen, analysts said.

The 7-Eleven owner has been taking steps to boost earnings, such as improving the offerings of proprietary and freshly made food products.

The company has also sold a group of superstores and other businesses for $5.4 billion and plans to list its North American convenience-store business by the end of 2026. The proceeds from both would go toward a $13 billion share buyback.

Seven & i Chief Financial Officer Yoshimichi Maruyama said Thursday that the company is making steady progress toward the initial public offering of its North American business.

The stock, down 20% so far this year, has yet to recover from the losses it suffered after Couche-Tard abandoned its $47 billion takeover bid in July.

For the second quarter, net profit rose to 72.79 billion yen, equivalent to $476.7 million, from Y30.85 billion a year earlier, the 7-Eleven owner said. That beat the estimate of Y59.6 billion in a poll of analysts by data provider Visible Alpha.

Operating profit for the overseas convenience-store business rose 3.8% to Y71.44 billion, while that of the domestic convenience-store business increased 1.2% to Y67.26 billion.

Seven & i raised its annual net profit view, expecting Y265 billion instead of Y255 billion forecast previously, but lowered its revenue projection.

Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com and Ronnie Harui at ronnie.harui@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 09, 2025 08:48 ET (12:48 GMT)

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