Chocolate Momentum Powers a More Resilient Outlook for Meiji

Margin expansion through growth in value-added health foods and an enlarged overseas sales scale will serve as a key driving force behind Meiji’s midterm growth. In the near term, restoring margins squeezed by rapid yen depreciation and cost inflation and minimizing China losses is a priority. Meanwhile, restructuring efforts to enhance pharmaceutical profitability have borne fruit. Pharma profit growth, lifted by new vaccines and overseas expansion, will hold equal importance as food to the fairly challenging growth target of a more than 11% compound annual growth rate in operating profits for the midterm plan ending March 2027.