Our two breweries, Fukushima and Ibaraki, are damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The Ibaraki have resumed, but Fukushima brewery is proceeding with repairs to its roof, exterior walls, and production equipment with an eye toward resuming operations this autumn.

To ensure increased output at our other breweries while responding to the need to reduce power consumption, we have decided to postpone merging our Nishinomiya Brewery’s operations into our Suita Brewery for one year until the end of August 2012. These measures have resolved all production issues, including during the peak summer season.

Meanwhile on the demand side, shipments of beer-type beverages fell some 10% market wide in March but have been recovering steadily since April. Although demand fell somewhat during the first half amid weak consumer sentiment, we do not expect to see any large declines in the second half.