Happy New Year, everyone. I am Maruyama from Seven & i Holdings.

I would like to start by expressing my sincere gratitude for your continued understanding and support of the Seven & i Group. We also appreciate you taking the time to join us for the results briefing today.

I will now walk you through our financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025. Our agenda for today is as follows: First, results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025; progress of our major business initiatives; and then, I would like to explain the revision of the full-year consolidated earnings forecast.

First, please refer to page 4. I will start with the third quarter results.

Here are the highlights for the consolidated results of the third quarter. Revenues from operations: ¥8,050.9 billion, 88.8% year on year, or 99% vis-à-vis revised plan.

Operating income was ¥325 billion, 103.1% year on year, or 101.6% versus revised plan. Net income attributable to owners of parent was ¥198.4 billion, 311.9% year on year, or 106.6% versus revised plan.

On a consolidated basis, we recorded a decrease in revenues, but an increase in profit. Amortization of goodwill under J-GAAP was ¥102.7 billion.

The decrease in revenue was primarily due to the deconsolidation of superstore operations and Seven Bank, as well as lower retail fuel prices at 7-Eleven, Inc. Operating income increased to 103.1% year on year, supported by profit growth in SST operations through the first half and a return to profit growth at 7-Eleven Japan in the third quarter.

Net income saw a significant increase of 311.9% year on year to ¥198.4 billion, driven by improvement in special gains and losses. In addition, the ongoing acquisition of own shares contributed to year-on-year EPS growth of 323.8%, exceeding our plan.

Foreign exchange rates had a negative impact of ¥3.5 billion on operating income. Moving to page 5.

This chart illustrates the year-on-year changes in operating income by segment. In domestic CVS operations, the year-to-date results through the first half showed a decrease of ¥5.9 billion.

However, initiatives under the new management structure began to take effect in the third quarter. Operating income for the three-month period from September to November increased by ¥1.5 billion, narrowing the cumulative decrease to ¥4.3 billion.

Conversely, in overseas CVS operations, operating income decreased in the third quarter, primarily due to gasoline market conditions, while the merchandise business remained stable. Including profit growth in SST operations, consolidated operating income increased by ¥9.6 billion year on year.

Please refer to page 6. This chart shows variances in operating profit versus the revised plan announced at the first half results briefing.

Domestic CVS operations outperformed the plan by ¥7.2 billion, returning to a recovery trend. Overseas CVS operations recorded a shortfall of ¥9.5 billion, primarily due to SEI's fuel business, while its merchandise business progressed largely as planned.

Additionally, eliminations and corporate contributed positively as the initially anticipated risk buffer was not utilized. Please refer to page 7.

As I mentioned on the consolidated results slide at the beginning, net income attributable to owners of the parent increased significantly, and I would like to explain the primary factors behind this. This chart categorizes the year-on-year changes in special losses, breaking down by item.

As explained in the interim briefing, the impact of completing the restructuring of unprofitable business and assets from the previous year became even more evident in the third quarter. As a result, special losses decreased by ¥124.2 billion year on year, serving as a major driver of the increase in net income.

Following this, I will provide an update on the status of 7-Eleven Japan and 7-Eleven, Inc. Please turn to page 9.

First, let me explain the performance of 7-Eleven Japan. The chart on the left shows the breakdown of operating income drivers compared to the previous year.

Since May, SEJ has been implementing various reforms under the leadership of new president, Akutsu. We believe we have reached an inflection point as the full effects of these initiatives began to emerge in the third quarter.

In the first half, merchandise gross profit margin decreased due to rising raw material costs for items such as rice, seaweed, and coffee beans. However, despite these cost pressures, and through the promotion of co-creation marketing, which I will explain later, we were able to recover to levels in line with the previous year during the three-month period from September to November.

As a result, although cumulative operating income for the nine-month period decreased by ¥4.6 billion compared to the previous year, operating income for the third quarter alone increased by ¥1.5 billion. Please refer to the line graph on the right.

The orange line represents the growth rate of existing store sales, the green line shows customer traffic, and the red line indicates growth rate of average spend per customer. While customer traffic appears to be recovering more slowly, partly due to the pleasant value pricing initiative launched last September, we believe we are steadily attracting our target customers and encouraging purchases of higher value-added products, resulting in a step-up in same-store sales growth.

These initiatives are gaining strong traction, and motivation within SEJ and among franchisees remains high as they advance their respective efforts under the error-and-learn spirit promoted by President Akutsu. Please refer to page 10.

I will now explain our co-creation marketing initiatives, which serve as a key driver in delivering tangible results for SEJ. As discussed during the IR Day in October, co-creation marketing brings together the merchandising, operations, marketing, and communication divisions to drive merchandising strategy and communication initiatives in a coherent manner, while also incorporating insights from external experts.

Regarding merchandising strategy, we are strengthening daily merchandise, an area previously identified as a challenge, by focusing on categories rather than individual SKUs. Furthermore, we are reaching out to 7-Eleven's broad customer base through TV commercials with a new concept.

For the younger generation, which we have identified as a priority segment, we are actively distributing short videos via social media and implementing interactive communication in coordination with our merchandising initiatives. Please refer to page 11.

I will now share some examples of the materialization of effects from our co-creation marketing initiatives. As shown on the left, by strengthening daily merchandise category by category, overall sales in this area have been growing steadily.

Thanks to our integrated communications, customer traffic frequency has increased, driven significantly by the younger generation. These positive outcomes demonstrate that SEJ's initiatives are resonating with our target customers.

As a result of these integrated efforts, both sales and gross profit are now back on a growth trajectory, as shown on the right, and we will continue to drive these initiatives even more aggressively going forward. Please refer to page 12.

This slide shows the progress of our key initiatives for fiscal year 2025. Within our initiatives to differentiate fresh food offerings, just-made counter merchandise grew significantly, driven by the introduction of hydrogen-roasted coffee in late October and Black Friday promotions held in November.

Seven Cafe Bakery is also progressing as planned toward reaching 8,000 stores this fiscal year, with a full rollout to all eligible stores by next year. Regarding store opening plans, we have strategically smoothed year-end concentration by shifting some openings into the first quarter of the next fiscal year.

Even so, we remain on track to achieve our target of a net increase of over 1,000 stores by fiscal year 2030, based on our baseline plans for fiscal year 2026 and beyond. Please refer to page 13.

Next, I will explain the performance of 7-Eleven, Inc. Please look at the chart on the left, where the results are divided into the first half and the third quarter.

While operating income increased by $47 million in the first half, it decreased by $54 million in the third quarter. We believe this was mainly driven by gasoline market conditions.

Compared with the prior year, gasoline market conditions were more stable, and retail prices remained relatively steady, which led to limited margin expansion opportunities amid continuing budget consciousness among consumers. As a result, CPG decreased from positive 2.4% year on year in the first half to minus 5.70% in the third quarter.

On the other hand, in the merchandise business, while the North American consumer environment remains challenging, we strengthened value-focused offers and other initiatives tailored to current consumer trends while continuing to execute our transformation initiatives. Excluding the impact of strategic store closures, merchandise profit increased by US$13 million in the third quarter alone.

Our cost leadership initiatives, which we have been continuously strengthening, continue to deliver results. In an environment of strong cost-push inflation for items such as rent and utilities, we achieved a cumulative cost reduction of $119 million compared to the previous year through rigorous cost management, including productivity improvement initiatives and the insourcing of store maintenance.

As a result, cumulative operating income for the first nine months was $1.593 billion, a decrease of $7.6 million year over year. The trend in same-store sales, as shown in the chart on the right, improved in the third quarter as traffic trends improved and we continue to see a higher average basket, driven by an increase in items per basket.

Same-store sales were up 0.5% for the quarter. As we moved into Q4, we faced a challenging consumer environment that was impacted by the US federal government shutdown that ran from October 1st through mid-November.

The shutdown created uncertainty and temporarily halted payment of certain government benefits, and in some cases, government employee pay. Same-store sales recovered, and in December, were positive on a year-over-year basis for the month, and generally reflective of the improving trends we saw in Q3.

Please refer to page 14. This slide shows the progress of SEI's key initiatives for fiscal year 2025.

In the current North American market environment, in order to meet customer needs and promote our convenience centered on quality food, we are advancing the various initiatives shown on the left. Regarding restaurant openings, some openings are expected to shift into the next year due to delays in permits and licensing, and certain private brand items are also expected to slip into next year due to tariff impacts.

However, we will catch up in early fiscal year 2026, and our two-year plan for '25 and 2026 remains unchanged. As shown on the right, merchandise gross profit margin recovered to the previous year's level in the third quarter, and we are managing costs below last year's level through cost leadership initiatives.

We will continue to strengthen the promotion of key initiatives and cost control going forward. Next, I will explain the revision of our full-year consolidated earnings forecast.

Please refer to page 16. This revision is driven by the emerging effects of balance sheet management and progress in asset optimization, combined with an increased net income contribution from York Holdings becoming an equity method affiliate on September 1st, among other factors.

As a result, we are revising our forecast for net income attributable to owners of the parent upward by ¥5 billion to ¥270 billion. Accordingly, we expect EPS to be ¥109.57 per share, representing 164.5% year-on-year growth, and EPS before goodwill amortization to be ¥151.87 per share.

Please refer to page 17. This slide explains the EPS forecast based on the revised FY25 plan I just discussed.

The green bar represents EPS based on net income under J-GAAP, while the orange bar graph shows EPS before goodwill amortization. Driven by significant net income growth and planned share repurchases, we project EPS at ¥109.57 and EPS before goodwill amortization at ¥151.87 per share based on the average shares outstanding during the period.

This represents an increase of ¥7.61 per share from the initial plan and an increase of ¥42.95 per share compared to fiscal year '24. Furthermore, the chart on the right shows EPS based on the number of shares at the end of the period.

In this case, the run-rate EPS would be ¥116.7 per share and the EPS before goodwill amortization would be ¥161.75 per share, providing a solid foundation for further EPS growth going forward. Finally, I will briefly summarize today's presentation.

At 7-Eleven Japan, I can personally sense that the internal atmosphere has changed significantly. I believe this is a result of President Akutsu's passion for transformation and his clear messaging and communication with franchisees and employees.

We believe these efforts are beginning to reach our customers through the co-creation marketing initiative, and I look forward to the developments ahead. As for 7-Eleven, Inc., while cost control is being managed under the North American economic environment, we will update our transformation initiatives and strengthen our efforts to respond more precisely to changes in the consumer environment and needs within our current merchandising strategy.

Last, but not least, we have steadily pushed forward and updated our consolidated net income forecast. Although our business profitability is still in recovery, we are progressing in asset optimization and will continue working to address the expectations of our shareholders and all stakeholders by delivering net income results that exceed our commitments.

Fiscal year 2026 will mark the first full year as a pure convenience store group. Challenges remain, but our direction is clear and initiatives to address these challenges are progressing steadily.

In fiscal year 2026, we will implement initiatives that take us one step further, and we hope you will look forward to our progress. This concludes my presentation.

Thank you for your time and attention.