NICHIREI CORPORATION
2871・Prime Market・Foods
Business
Nichirei Corporation is a holding company founded in 1942, overseeing a group comprising 87 subsidiaries and 12 affiliated companies. In its core food business, the company manufactures and sells processed frozen foods (processed chicken products, rice-based products, Chinese-style prepared dishes, etc.), marine products, and livestock products, supplying both household and commercial markets domestically and internationally. In the low-temperature logistics business, the company provides storage, transportation and delivery, and 3PL services through a refrigerated warehouse network spanning nine regions in Japan and 27 overseas logistics bases including Europe, ASEAN, and China. The company also operates a real estate business (office building leasing) and a bioscience business (diagnostic reagents, testing kits), with its business foundation built on a "food value chain leveraging cooling capabilities."
Business Model
In the food business, the company operates manufacturing and sales in an integrated manner through its own plants (in Japan, Thailand, North America, etc.), securing earnings through price revisions and expanded sales of value-added products. In the cold storage logistics business, it owns nationwide refrigerated warehouses and transportation networks as proprietary infrastructure, continuously collecting storage fees, transportation fees, and 3PL commissions. The synergy between the two businesses enables both stable food supply and logistics efficiency simultaneously, with a structure that accelerates growth through network expansion via overseas M&A.
Company Strengths
The company owns a refrigerated warehouse network across nine domestic regions and operates new services such as the trailer-based "SULS" and the retail-oriented "NL+LiNk" (NL Link). In FY2025 (ended March 2025), domestic sales in Low-Temperature Logistics reached ¥199,018 million, with domestic operating income of ¥17,955 million (up 24.7% year on year), achieving high profit growth. This reflects an infrastructure advantage that is difficult for competitors to replicate in a short period.
In addition to domestic plants, the company owns its own production bases in Thailand (Surapon Nichirei Foods and others), North America (InnovAsian Cuisine Enterprises), Brazil, and elsewhere. It holds the No. 1 share worldwide (company estimate) in acerola raw materials, and has built a customer base with major users in core categories such as processed chicken products and rice-based products. In FY2025 (ended March 2025), domestic sales of Processed Foods reached ¥260,553 million, up 7.2% year on year.
Starting with the acquisition of a Dutch refrigeration company in 1988, the company has continued to pursue M&A, including in France (2010), a UK forwarding company (previous fiscal year), and Indonesia and Malaysia (current fiscal year). Overseas Low-Temperature Logistics sales reached ¥92,568 million (up 11.3% year on year), and the company has built up the capability to provide one-stop services at major European ports.
ENVALITH's Perspective
Performance Trend
Revenue for FY2026 (ending March 2026) was ¥716,144 million (up 2.0% year on year), operating profit was ¥38,999 million (up 1.8%), and profit attributable to owners of parent was ¥27,332 million (up 10.5%), with all metrics setting record highs for the fifth consecutive period. The cold chain logistics business performed strongly both domestically and internationally (segment operating profit up 18.0%), driving overall results, while the food segment saw operating profit decline 6.6% due to higher costs from yen depreciation and rising raw material prices, along with the impact of structural reforms in the marine products and livestock businesses. A change in depreciation method (from the declining-balance method to the straight-line method) contributed a profit boost of ¥3,795 million. The substantial increase in net profit (up 10.5%) was mainly attributable to the recording of ¥4,685 million in extraordinary gains from the sale of investment securities. ROE improved to 10.0%, and net assets per share rose to ¥1,142.56.
Growth Strategy
Under "N-FIT2035," the company is advancing three pillars: food business integration, overseas expansion, and improved capital efficiency.
Nichirei Foods and Nichirei Fresh merged effective April 1, 2026, integrating all functions from procurement to sales, including overseas operations. The food segment's reporting categories have also been reorganized from 5 to 3 categories. For FY2026 (ending December 2026, 9-month period), the food segment forecasts net sales of ¥343,100 million and operating profit of ¥16,200 million, aiming to realize integration benefits.
Domestically, the company continues to expand collection volumes through new services such as "SULS" and "NL+LiNk". Overseas, it is advancing base investments and M&A in ASEAN (Indonesia, Malaysia) and Europe (UK, Poland). For FY2026 (ending December 2026, 9-month period), cold chain logistics is forecast to achieve net sales of ¥272,200 million and operating profit of ¥17,900 million (+11.7% compared to the same 9-month period in the prior fiscal year), representing higher revenue and profit.
The company optimized its cost structure by unifying depreciation methods to the straight-line method and reviewing useful lives, improving ROE from 9.6% to 10.0%. While maintaining consolidated ROIC of 6.3% (FY2026 (ended March 2026) actual), the company is managing the transition period toward a forecasted 6.0% for FY2026 (ending December 2026). The annual dividend is planned to increase from ¥47 (FY2026, ended March 2026) to ¥50 (FY2026, ending December 2026, forecast), with a payout ratio forecast of 49.7%.
Subject to approval of the articles of incorporation amendment at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on June 24, 2026, the fiscal year-end is planned to change from March 31 to December 31 starting in fiscal year 2026. The transitional fiscal year, FY2026 (ending December 2026), will be a 9-month accounting period (for subsidiaries with a March fiscal year-end). The purpose is to strengthen global governance and align fiscal year-ends with overseas subsidiaries.
Last updated: July 19, 2026