Leading position and brand recognition in Japan's retail market Lagging profit recovery in general merchandising store (GMS) business, which we expect will take time to fully recover Enhanced supermarket and discount store business as well as a drugstore and pharmacy business Strong performance in nonretail segments--such as shopping center development and leasing plus service businesses--which somewhat diversifies its earnings base Low profitability compared with global peers, although consolidated earnings performance is recovering gradually Key financial ratios such as debt to EBITDA are unlikely to improve substantially over the next one to two years, because of a plan to maintain heavy investments Relatively strong EBITDA interest coverage ratio, to which we assign extra weight in our analysis of its development business,
