TRIAL Holdings, Inc.

Trial Holdings Co., Ltd. is a pure holding company overseeing a group that operates the "Retail Business" and "Retail AI Business," among others. Through its core subsidiary Trial Company Co., Ltd., it operates 352 discount stores nationwide (as of end-June 2025) under the TRIAL brand, whose concept is "Your Essential Everyday Store." The company addresses diverse trading areas through four formats—Mega Center, Super Center, smart, and small-format stores—offering a wide range of products from food to home appliances and apparel on a 24-hour basis. At the same time, it is nurturing its Retail AI Business, which deploys in-house-developed retail technologies such as Skip Cart (a checkout cart with integrated payment functionality) and MD-Link across the retail industry as a whole. In July 2025, the company made Seiyu Co., Ltd. a wholly owned subsidiary, expanding the group's total store count to 611. Its main customers are general consumers nationwide, with membership reaching approximately 12.17 million (as of end-June 2025).

In the distribution retail business, the company pursues thorough EDLC (Every Day Low Cost) through in-house logistics, in-group construction, and internalized process centers, attracting customers with competitive EDLP pricing. Profitability is being improved through expansion of the private brand (PB) product ratio (18.4% in FY2025 (ending June 2025)) and strengthening of the four fresh food categories. In the retail AI business, the company collects license and monthly usage fees for Skip Cart and MD-Link from manufacturers and retailers. It employs an "operation-driven" model that uses its own stores as a proving ground, accelerating external rollout while keeping development costs down.

For the cumulative nine months of the third quarter of FY2026 (ending June 2026), net sales reached ¥1,003,663 million (up 67.3% year on year), EBITDA was ¥52,192 million (up 122.8%), and operating income was ¥22,943 million (up 70.4%), showing substantial expansion at the sales and operating income levels. However, due to interest expenses of ¥2,996 million and borrowing-related costs of ¥1,233 million associated with bank borrowings (short-term borrowings of ¥367,400 million) for the Seiyu acquisition, ordinary income was limited to ¥20,093 million (up 38.6%). Compounded by goodwill amortization of ¥11,495 million and corporate income taxes of ¥13,683 million, net income attributable to owners of the parent fell to ¥5,922 million (down 29.3%). The full-year earnings forecast has been revised to net sales of ¥1,342,500 million (up 67.0% year on year), operating income of ¥28,000 million (up 32.7%), and net income of ¥500 million (down 95.7%). Regarding the external environment, rising prices and growing thrift consciousness are tailwinds for customer traffic at EDLP-type retailers, but sluggish growth in real wages is constraining consumer spending, which limits the upper bound of average customer spending. The equity ratio has fallen sharply from 42.0% at the end of the previous fiscal year to 16.7%, and restoring financial soundness is a medium-term challenge.