TOKYO -- Japanese convenience store chain Lawson looks to compensate for slow growth at home by accelerating shop openings abroad and turning a profit in overseas operations by fiscal 2018.
Lawson held five subsidiaries -- in Thailand and the Chinese cities of Shanghai, Chongqing, Dalian and Beijing -- with a total of 1,016 stores as of the end of February. Overseas business produced gross operating revenue, equivalent to sales, of 28.5 billion yen ($254 million) in fiscal 2016 with an operating loss of 2.1 billion yen. These subsidiaries together have recorded seven straight years of losses as costs pile up.
