Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. on Aug. 1 lowered its outlook for full year 2019 despite posting better-than-expected first-half growth.
The company reduced its full-year revenue and profit targets as it expects bad weather to hurt its alcohol beverages and soft drinks businesses and a strong yen to hit income from overseas business.
The Japanese beverage producer now expects basic EPS for the full year to come in at ¥330.73 compared to ¥331.81 from the previous forecast. Total revenue for the year ended Dec. 31 is also expected to dip at ¥2.121 trillion, lower than the previous projection of ¥2.153 trillion.
For the first half ended June 30, adjusted diluted EPS came in at ¥134.33 from ¥131.80 in the year-ago period, surpassing the S&P Global Market Intelligence consensus normalized EPS estimate of ¥131.85. Net income rose 2.4% to ¥61.68 billion compared with ¥60.23 billion from the first half of 2018. Total revenue, however, dropped 2.1% to ¥983.83 billion compared to ¥1.005 trillion last year.
As of Aug. 1, US$1 was equivalent to ¥108.24.
