Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.
H1 2026 Financial Results Briefing: Summary of Conference Call (1)
Date: Monday, August 17, 2026, 13:00-14:30
Presenter: Atsushi Katsuki, President and Group CEO
◆ Greeting
• While the disclosure of our financial results has been delayed by the September 2025
system disruption, on August 14, 2026, we were able to disclose the financial results for
the first quarter and first half of 2026, bringing us broadly back in line with the regular
financial results disclosure schedule.
• Let me once again apologize for those delayed financial results announcements and
express my genuine appreciation for your patient understanding and support in the period
prior to their disclosure.
• I will now provide you with a summary of the Asahi Group Holdings performance in the first
half of 2026 and explain our future direction.
◆ Executive Summary (P1)
• First, to summarize the first-half performance, Core Operating Profit decreased by 8.5%
year on year on a constant currency basis due primarily to the residual system disruption
impact which resulted in a fall in revenue in Japan & East Asia, as well as continued
declines in demand in Europe and Asia Pacific.
• However, Core Operating Profit for the Group as a whole exceeded plan, driven primarily
by efforts to control fixed costs in Japan & East Asia.
• In Japan, while the different businesses progressed at different speeds, we worked on
restoring sales outlets to help ensure a post-system disruption recovery, and steadily
advanced our growth strategies for expanding Global Brands and Beer Adjacent
Categories (BAC) across all regions.
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• In terms of future direction for the Group, financial performance will likely vary by region
and we are anticipating additional costs from increased marketing investments and the
situation in the Middle East in the second half. However, we have left our full-year plan as
it is for the time being and are aiming to achieve that plan at the Group level.
• We will enhance profit growth trajectories from 2027 onward by leveraging the upcoming
liquor tax revisions to help strengthen the beer category in Japan, continuing to invest in
premiumization in Europe and Asia Pacific, and promoting earnings structure reforms
across the Group.
• Furthermore, we will promote swift post merger integration (PMI) once the East Africa
business acquisition has been successfully closed and steadily implement measures to
achieve our key indicator guidelines, while maintaining financial soundness.
◆ Premium Strategy Progress (P2)
• The first-half results for beer and beer-like beverages and non-alcohol adult beverages
(beer taste) listed at the top of this slide show a 2.6% year-on-year decline in sales volumes
across our three operational regions, while unit sale prices continued to rise, increasing by
2.5% year on year in the first half of 2026.
• Meanwhile, as you can see on the bottom half of the slide, Global Brands sales volumes
are growing at an even greater pace than in the first quarter, with Asahi Super Dry sales
volumes expanding by 31% year on year and Peroni Nastro Azzurro by 7%. I will explain
this trend in more detail on the next page.
• Conversely, first-half BAC sales volumes for the Group as a whole declined by 1% due to
the impact of the system disruption in Japan. However, if we look just at the second quarter
data, growth momentum is picking up and the Group reported a 6% year-on-year increase
in BAC sale volumes after all regions reported BAC growth including Japan where that the
breadth of products has now been restored.
• While the environment remains challenging in all regions, we will press ahead with our
determined premium strategy by implementing appropriate pricing strategies that leverage
our competitive advantages in individual regions, and focusing on expanding Global Brands
and BAC.
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◆ Global Brands (P3)
• In the first half of 2026, Asahi Super Dry demonstrated significant growth, with vigorous
promotional activities inspiring strong growth in China and sales also expanding in South
Korea and the UK.
• Meanwhile, Peroni Nastro Azzurro is experiencing growth in the UK and also expanding in
other markets such as Germany and Hungary.
• In 2026, we are developing globally consistent brand communications for both brands
based on newly created core messages. Going forward, we will continue to promote
marketing activities that leverage our various sponsorships, establish a solid presence for
Asahi Super Dry and Peroni Nastro Azzurro as Global Brands, and cultivate the segment
as a pillar for medium-term profit growth.
◆Japan & East Asia (P4-5)
• As I mentioned earlier, the Japan & East Asia operation is still experiencing the lingering
effects of the system disruption, resulting in a decrease in first-half profits. However, the
operation tracked above plan following efforts to effectively control fixed costs including
advertising and promotion.
• In each business, we strengthened advertising and promotion activities to support a
recovery in sales, revised prices, and generally improved product and pack mixes.
• The main initiatives are described on page 5 but in the alcohol beverages business, we are
leveraging the ongoing beer revival while also striving to accelerate the trend by enhancing
the Asahi Super Dry “chill” factor, and fortifying our lineup of beer products with new gems
such as Asahi Nama Beer: Nama Jokki Can and Peroni Nastro Azzurro in a can.
• We are focusing on expanding our range of high value-added products, such as Asahi Zero
ad Mirai no Lemon Sour, and continuing to expand our BAC category.
• Regarding the future direction of the Japan & East Asia operation, we will continue to
execute advertising and promotional investment that capitalizes on opportunities such as
the upcoming liquor tax revisions, while also aiming to steadily achieve the annual plan by
improving efficiency in various areas to absorb the cost increases associated with the
situation in the Middle East.
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• Furthermore, we will strive to regain and exceed 2024 profit levels in 2027 and do
everything that we can to recover a firm profit growth trajectory.
◆ Europe: H1 Overview and Future Direction (P6)
• Now to summarize European performance, which fell short of plan, profit declined as a
result of declining demand in Poland and Romania and increased costs.
• On the other hand, the overall unit sales price increased by roughly 3% year on year as we
moved forward with our premium strategy, and we promoted further earnings structure
reforms to curb rising costs.
• In terms of future direction, we will aim to achieve the annual plan by stimulating demand
ahead of peak sales periods and accelerating earnings structure reforms.
• We will also strengthen Europe’s medium- to long-term growth base by continuing to inject
growth investment into Global Brands and non-alcohol adult beverages (beer taste).
◆ Europe: Key Topics (P7)
• The top-left graph shows that, despite the weakening in overall demand, our sales volume
share in Poland has continued to improve following our decision to strengthen brand
investment from the second half of 2025.
• Going forward, we will continue to invest a certain amount in that market to help maintain
our operational base, and we will gradually return to our premiumization strategy as we
strengthen non-alcohol adult beverages (beer taste).
• The graph on the top-right shows the relationship between CPI and beer market volumes
in Romania. The market had been recovering from previous significant cost-inflation
phases, but the August 2025 hike in excise duties and the withdrawal of energy subsidies
sparked a sharp rise in CPI to above the 10% mark, negatively impacting the beer market.
• Admittedly, as you can see on the graph, the market in Romania is highly volatile and we
will work to maintain and improve our competitive advantage there by enhancing our
mainstream brands and non-alcohol adult beverages (beer taste) while positioning the
business for a more stable CPI environment.
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◆ Asia Pacific: H1 Overview and Future Direction (P8)
• Moving onto the overview of the Asia Pacific operation, which fell short of plan, profit
hovered at the previous year’s level after the challenging consumption environment in
Oceania resulted in lower-than-expected price/product mixes.
• However, we are continuing to expand brands in growth areas such as contemporary beer,
RTDs, and energy drinks, creating future pillars to support lasting profit growth.
• Looking ahead, we aim to generate a recovery and achieve our annual plan by executing
appropriate pricing strategies and earnings structure reforms.
• In addition, we will accelerate brand development based on our Multi Beverage Strategy
and further enhance our competitive edge by continuing to invest in growth categories.
◆Asia Pacific: Key Topics (P9)
• While we have only seen a limited rise in unit sales prices since the third quarter of 2025
given the challenging consumption environment, sales volumes have been tracking above
the previous year’s level.
• That growth has been primarily driven by contemporary beers Great Northern and Carlton
Dry. RTDs such as Hard Rated also generated mid-single-digit growth and continue to
perform well.
• These might be challenging times, but we will continue investing in growth categories and
leveraging our strong competitive advantage in the Oceania region until the consumption
environment improves.
◆Reference: EABL Financial Performance Overview (P10)
• For your reference, we have included an overview of EABL’s full-year financial results for
the year ended June 2026, which were disclosed on August 6.
• Since the acquisition has not yet closed, we will not give you a detailed explanation of the
results, suffice to say that the full-year results were even better than the buoyant first-half
performance, with sales volumes increasing by 13% year on year, revenue expanding by
13%, and EBIT rising by 27%, an extremely strong performance.
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• After the acquisition closing in the second half of 2026, we will swiftly execute PMI to help
drive a genuine expansion in performance from 2027 onward, and further advance our
growth strategy of building a presence in growth markets.
◆ Finally
• Our share price has improved somewhat following the release of the fiscal 2025 full-year
financial results in July and the return of funds to defensive stocks.
• Having said that, valuations remain low, and we recognize that encouraging a recovery in
valuations is a most important management priority. At last, we have been able to broadly
return the announcement of our financial results to the regular disclosure schedule.
• As I explained in the July briefing, going forward, we plan to build trust in our annual plans
by presenting a roadmap of intended growth strategies and capital policies, while steadily
delivering against that roadmap as we work toward our 2030 key indicator guidelines.
• We will continue to deepen dialogue with all our stakeholders and strive to generate a
strong recovery in our stock price. We very much appreciate your continued support and I
thank you for your attention here today.
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