TOKYO — Takashimaya said Friday it saw higher first-quarter profits and sales as consumers rushed to shop ahead of Japan’s sales tax increase on April 1.
The department store operator’s net profit for the three months ended May 31 rose 13.3 percent to 4.55 billion yen, or $44.55 million at average exchange rates for the period.
First-quarter operating profit rose 23.6 percent to 7.54 billion yen, or $73.77 million.
Net sales for the period increased 4.8 percent on the year to 224.27 billion yen, or $2.2 billion.
Takashimaya left unchanged its guidance for the fiscal year ending Feb. 28. It expects net profit to grow 9.5 percent to 20.5 billion yen, or $201.5 million at current exchange rates. It predicts that sales will fall by 0.5 percent to 900 billion yen, or $8.85 billion.