Skylark Holdings Co., Ltd.

In April 2026, Skylark Holdings acquired all shares of Shinpachi Shokudo, a set-meal chain that bills itself as dried-fish fast food, from an investment fund for 11 billion yen, bringing it under its wing. Shinpachi Shokudo serves grilled fish cooked in about 10 minutes on a charcoal grill, and operates more than 60 stores mainly in and around Tokyo; its top-selling Kawasaki Ginryugai store seats 30 and draws about 700 customers a day. Yoshiaki Kita, executive officer and CFO of Skylark, praised the chain's suitability for urban and station-front locations, its ability to open in a 20-tsubo space, and its high turnover as "unique value," calling the 11 billion yen price tag "a good buy." After the acquisition, customer-drawing power and property development capability have increased; August 2026 sales were about 120 percent of the year-earlier level, locations for the 30 stores planned for 2027 have been decided, and candidate sites have grown to five times the pre-acquisition level. Shinpachi, for its part, will keep its brand identity unchanged and aims for 300 stores by 2030.

Skylark Holdings reported first-half operating profit for the fiscal year ending December 2026 of 16.8 billion yen, up 20.9% year on year, and raised its full-year forecast. Revenue came to 242.4 billion yen, up 9.7% from a year earlier, while interim profit attributable to owners of the parent rose 29.2% to 10.1 billion yen. The company lifted its full-year forecast to revenue of 500 billion yen, operating profit of 35 billion yen and net profit of 20.5 billion yen, and raised its annual dividend forecast from 26 yen to 27 yen. First-half existing-store sales rose to 106.4% of the year-earlier level, with both customer numbers and average spending per customer increasing. The gross profit margin slipped 0.2 percentage point from a year earlier to 66.6% because of higher raw material costs, but selling, general and administrative expenses grew more slowly than revenue, lifting the operating margin to 6.9%.