Main Q&As at FY2025 Business Update Conference

A.We know that we will definitely overcome the disruption to our systems caused by the cyberattack because our brand prowess, business platforms, and other essential fundamentals remain unscathed and we are continuing to pay shareholder returns. However, we do recognize the general global weakness in the stock prices of beer, food, and consumer goods companies right now. Some people have voiced concerns about possible inherent structural issues in these industries that could hinder future growth, but we are taking various steps to address such challenges such as promoting our premium strategy, enhancing Beer Adjacent Categories (BAC), which include non-alcohol adult beverages, RTDs, and adult soft drinks, and improving the value that we offer to consumers.

A.While cash flow will be impacted, we are not thinking of changing our financial policy or key indicator guidelines through 2030. On the subject of share buybacks, we remain committed to an early buyback of the approximately 150 million shares issued through public offering when we acquired Carlton & United Breweries in 2020. It is possible that Net Debt/EBITDA could rise temporarily to over 3.0, but this will not lead to any amendment of our overall financial policy. Furthermore, we have no intention of reducing our growth-promoting, forward-looking investment plans, including capital expenditure, and we do not need to significantly review the overall plan even in the event of increased cybersecurity and IT-related investment.

A.We are unable to give you a specific date for those financial results announcements at this point in time. Our accounting systems will be restored very soon, but it is not as if we will be able to shift into regular operations the instant those systems are fully restored. We will first need to close the financial results for September and then confirm and verify the consistency of ordering, billing, and collection data from October onward that were executed through analog channels and did not go through our Electronic Ordering System. We envisage more procedures and checks than usual in terms of external audits and internal controls, which will take a considerable amount of time. This will result in an extended quiet period vis-a-vis the capital markets, but we would like to offer briefing opportunities like this one when appropriate.

A.We will incur some costs associated with the updating of certain hardware and software, but the main cost will be the payment of service fees to external experts. The overall judgment is that core systems do not need to be rebuilt and that restoring and rehabilitating existing systems is sufficient. We cannot clearly illustrate the scale of these incurred costs at this stage.

A.We disclosed revenue data because we were able to capture those figures even after taking inter-segment eliminations into account. However, the calculation of Core Operating Profit includes some complex processes such as reflecting inter-region transactions, and it was difficult to achieve the level of accuracy required for external disclosure when our accounting systems are not fully operational.

A.Email communication between Japan and other regions was suspended for a brief period directly after the system disruption occurred to ensure safety. Some processes are still a little inconvenient, but, overall, we are holding online conferences as usual and do not have any major issues regarding communication with our international operations. Moreover, our international business operations themselves have not been impacted by the system disruption in Japan.

A.We are not considering any changes to our medium- to long-term management strategy. However, we have been able to identify some weaknesses and unnecessary elements as a result of this latest business process review and incident response. We have also received multiple suggestions for improvements from both inside and outside the company and we will proceed with any necessary reviews going forward.

A.It is only conjecture at this point, but we suspect that the October data came in higher than expected because some shipments that had been suspended at the end of September were carried over into October and stock held in the distribution stage and by consumers may have increased slightly. As of mid-November, revenue was showing a year-on-year decline in the low 20% range, but that is improving slightly as the month draws to a close.

A.We will resume orders and shipments via our Electronic Ordering Systems from early December, and current operational constraints will improve considerably. The shipping environment will gradually return to normal as restrictions on transportation and order volumes are removed. Having said that, we do still anticipate some delay in delivery lead times and continued restrictions on some stock keeping unit shipments. Given the current situation, it is difficult to anticipate the extent to which sales will recover, and when.

A.Sales have been temporarily sluggish due to tight product supply, but we do not believe this will have a serious impact over the medium to long term. We have already started commercial negotiations for the period from February 2026 when our systems will have been restored, and we are considering various advertising campaigns and promotions to thank our customers for their patience and understanding. We will enhance sales activities ahead of the October 2026 liquor tax revision in the same way as we have always done. We will likely conduct some additional investment to restore trust and sales volumes in the wake of this system disruption, but that is not expected to significantly increase overall investment levels.

A.The situation surrounding sales volumes in Europe was tougher than we had expected due to unseasonal weather and a deterioration in consumer sentiment. The decline in sales volumes was particularly marked in Poland, and the impact of cooler temperatures and prolonged rainfall, which resulted in unseasonal weather in Eastern Europe, was extremely large. While the weather-related factor is expected to improve in fiscal 2026, we have pinpointed some structural issues in Poland that we are working to solve mainly through the development of new marketing measures. By contrast, Core Operating Profit has been proceeding to plan in Europe. We are currently implementing planned structural reforms through 2027 of EUR 100 million or more in Europe, and those reforms are already expected to generate benefits in the region of EUR 70 million in 2025. In other words, these accumulated efforts are enabling us to secure steady profits.

A.Australian business sentiment is recovering and on-premise demand is strong, driven by a shift in demand from restaurants to pubs. However, the recovery in off-premise demand has been slower than anticipated due to lackluster consumer appetite. The Australian market is a mature one in which demand for beer has been declining slightly for the past 40 years. We are addressing those market characteristics by promoting premiumization, enhancing our contemporary beer range and global brands, pursuing our Multi Beverage Strategy, and strengthening BAC. We have also planned structural reforms across our Asia Pacific segment of AUD 70 million or more through 2027. Those reforms are expected to generate benefits of roughly AUD 30 million in 2025, thus supporting profits.