Increased stability of the group's business franchises due to growth in the shopping-center development and financial-services business segments Sound financial profile and expanded business franchise from an aggressive growth strategy involving M&A and store openings, due to net-debt reductions Geographically well-diversified business franchise for a Japanese retailer Stand-alone profitability remains low, due to weaker merchandise policies for its clothing and home-related goods segments compared to the policies for specialty clothing and home-appliance stores, despite management's efforts to focus on improving gross profits Persistent deterioration in profitability in the specialty-stores segment Although it is pursuing tie-ups with a variety of companies to obtain a basis for growth, because the profit contributions of the new consolidated subsidiaries are not expected to be
