Japan's Seven & i seen booking 24% fall in Q4 profit, adding to takeover pressure

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese retailer Seven & i Holdings ( SVNDF ) is set to record a 24% drop in quarterly profit on Wednesday as underperformance of its convenience store business hampers its ability to fend off a takeover attempt by Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard ( ANCTF ).

Seven & i ( SVNDF ) is likely to book operating profit of 94.45 billion yen ($639.52 million) for December-February, showed the average of eight analyst estimates compiled by LSEG. That would compare with 124.23 billion yen in the same period a year prior.

The 7-Eleven operator's profit has fallen in recent quarters as domestic convenience store operations underperformed competitors and its North American arm suffered from lower consumer spending against a backdrop of accelerating inflation.

At the same time, Seven & i ( SVNDF ) has sought to bat away a $47 billion bid from Circle-K operator Couche-Tard, arguing initiatives to overhaul its business will increase corporate value and that antitrust barriers in the U.S. may nix any deal.

A management buyout led by Seven & i's ( SVNDF ) founding family collapsed in February after failing to secure funding. The company has since turned to strategies including selling off non-core businesses and appointing Stephen Dacus as CEO.

In March it announced a $2 billion share buyback and proposed listing its North American convenience store subsidiary by the second half of 2026.

Still, Seven & i's ( SVNDF ) share price, which has traded between around 1,850 yen and 2,250 yen since the start of March, is far below Couche-Tard's offer of around 2,700 yen, indicating that investors are sceptical of Seven & i's ( SVNDF ) plans, analysts said.

Last month Seven & i ( SVNDF ) and Couche-Tard said they were working together to find buyers for around 2,000 of their convenience stores in the U.S., in their most concrete sign of engagement.

Seven & i ( SVNDF ) has said a divestiture plan is necessary to pass a U.S. Federal Trade Commission review. Sources have told Reuters that interested buyers are primarily private equity firms.

Investors and analysts now await the outcome of store-sale discussions and an update on the listing of Seven & i's ( SVNDF ) North American subsidiary.

($1 = 147.6900 yen)

(Reporting by Anton Bridge; Editing by Christopher Cushing)