Japan Beverages: CCBJ/Ito En/Lifedrink meeting takeaways

Research evidence excerpt

Japan Beverages: CCBJ/Ito En/Lifedrink meeting takeaways

Equity Research

26 June 2026 | 2:49PM JST

Within this note, we provide takeaways from meetings we recently had with Takashi Miyazaki

+81(3)4587-9896 |

Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Holdings, Ito En, and Lifedrink Company (all Not Covered) takashi.miyazaki@gs.com

Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd.

and discuss the read-across for our sector coverage.

Megumi Taniguchi

+81(3)4587-9877 |

megumi.taniguchi@gs.com

Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Holdings Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd.

n 1Q earnings: Sales/business profits came to +3.6% yoy/+¥3.8 bn yoy,

respectively, and sales volumes were +4.0% yoy. CCBJ commented that both

sales and profits beat guidance, mainly due to volumes beating expectations.

n Impact of the Middle East situation: The company noted that its hedging

strategy means there is almost no impact on 1H earnings. For FY12/26, an

additional cost increase of c.¥2-4 bn is expected, mainly in 2H, but CCBJ plans to

absorb this through price hikes and cost reductions. Regarding the price hikes to

be implemented from September 2026, the company expects them to boost

business profits by ¥5-6 bn on a 12-month basis.

n Raw material costs: CCBJ buys concentrate from Coca-Cola Japan in yen and

pays a fixed percentage of sales, rather than being exposed to market price

fluctuations for raw materials. This makes its business model less susceptible to

commodity price fluctuations than its domestic competitors. CCBJ also sees no

direct impact from the recent surge in tea leaf prices. It said is mainly affected by

packaging material costs, and in 1Q, market conditions resulted in boost from

cost savings of +¥0.6 bn yoy.

Ito En

n 4Q earnings: Non-consolidated sales/operating profits came to +1.3%/-11%

yoy, respectively.