Leading position and brand recognition in Japan's retail market Likely sustained recovery in AEON's retail business, given its revitalization of existing stores, organizational restructuring, and progress in business restructuring within the group Lagging full recovery of its general merchandising store (GMS) business Strong performance in nonretail segments--such as shopping center development, leasing, and management, as well as service businesses--which somewhat diversifies its earnings Low profitability compared with global peers' High dependence on debt due to aggressive investments Key financial ratios such as debt to EBITDA that are slightly weak for the current ratings but that will likely continue to gradually recover over the next one to two years with a recovery in its business performance and a plan to slightly
