Loading…
Operates the Gyomu Super discount supermarket chain via franchise, and manufactures/wholesales food products sold there.
Operates the Gyomu Super discount supermarket chain via franchise, and manufactures/wholesales food products sold there.
Mostly earns by selling its own-brand and imported foods wholesale to the Gyomu Super franchise stores, which retail them at low prices, so volume across the franchise network matters most. Owning food factories and importing in bulk lets it pass savings on to the stores.
In one line: A Japanese Costco/Aldi hybrid for bulk grocery discount retail.
Moat: narrow (cost advantage, scale, brand). Vertically integrated manufacturing plus franchise model undercuts rival supermarket pricing.
Headquarters: Kakogawa, Japan · Founded: 1981 · Employees: 1,674
Size Kobe Bussan (3038.T) is a Japan Consumer Staples company (Food Retail) with a market value of $4.33B, the 271st largest of 1,379 Japan companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at ¥3,075 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 14.7%, against +5.0% for the median peer and +1.8% for the Japan market (cap-weighted) — 7th highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 5.7% over the last twelve months (peer median +4.6%); the operating margin is 7.1% (peer median 3.8%).
Valuation It trades at 21.9× forward earnings against a peer median of 15.9× (6th most expensive of 19).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about -5% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +10%, so the hurdle is -15 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 28.4 points above its cost of capital (5.0% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 11 Dec 2026 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ¥573B | ¥552B | ¥508B | ¥462B | ¥407B |
| Revenue growth | — | +9% | +10% | +13% | — |
| Gross profit | ¥69.9B | ¥65.1B | ¥57.2B | ¥52.0B | ¥45.9B |
| EBITDA | ¥47.2B | ¥46.5B | ¥40.5B | ¥35.7B | ¥32.7B |
| Net income | ¥29.0B | ¥31.9B | ¥21.4B | ¥20.6B | ¥20.8B |
| Free cash flow | n/a | ¥33.0B | ¥20.7B | ¥21.7B | ¥10.5B |
| Capital expenditure | n/a | ¥9.35B | ¥10.3B | ¥9.38B | ¥11.4B |
| Total debt | ¥27.8B | ¥30.1B | ¥37.0B | ¥38.3B | ¥34.5B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kobe Bussan 3038.T | $4.33B | +15% | +6% | 7% | 21.9× | -4.8% |
| Life 8194.T | $1.43B | +1% | +3% | 3% | 12.1× | -11.0% |
| Aeon 8267.T | $21.4B | -19% | +11% | 2% | 51.1× | 3.5% |
| Pan Pacific Intl Hldgs 7532.T | $15.0B | -15% | +9% | 7% | 19.8× | -2.2% |
| Valor 9956.T | $1.25B | -6% | +9% | 3% | 8.8× | -2.7% |
| Arcs 9948.T | $1.27B | +5% | +2% | 3% | 15.9× | -10.6% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | 3038.T | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +4.4% | +5.3% | 10th lowest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +14.7% | +5.0% | 7th highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -23.0% | -16.0% | 7th lowest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +5.7% | +4.6% | 8th highest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 7.1% | 3.8% | 6th highest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 21.9× | 15.9× | 6th most expensive of 19 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | -4.8% | -0.4% | 3rd least demanding of 20 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +10.1% | +6.3% | 7th highest of 20 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -15.0 pp | -6.6 pp | 4th least demanding of 20 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +28.4 pp | +4.5 pp | 3rd highest of 20 |
| EV / EBITDA | 12.1× | 7.8× | 3rd most expensive of 18 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | -2.6× | 1.8× | 2nd least indebted of 18 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kobe Bussan 3038.T | Japan | $4.33B | +15% | +6% | 7% | 21.9× | -4.8% | +10.1% |
| Sprouts Farmers Market SFM | United States | $4.53B | -41% | +5% | 7% | 11.3× | -4.0% | +6.4% |
| Yonghui Superstores 601933.SS | China | $3.76B | -23% | -16% | -3% | 273.4× | n/a | n/a |
| Ocado OCDO.L | United Kingdom | $3.73B | +77% | -42% | 3% | n/a | 39.1% | -9.9% |
| DFI Retail D01.SI | Singapore | $5.06B | -11% | -3% | 4% | 13.2× | -0.4% | -2.9% |
| Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentacion DIA.MC | Spain | $3.15B | +25% | +2% | 3% | 32.6× | 4.9% | -3.6% |
| Albertsons Companies ACI | United States | $6.02B | -20% | +2% | 2% | 7.0× | -3.0% | +3.6% |
| Axfood AXFO.ST | Sweden | $6.26B | +4% | +2% | 3% | 24.3× | 3.2% | +10.7% |
| Kusuri No Aoki 3549.T | Japan | $2.88B | +26% | +13% | 5% | 21.2× | 4.1% | +13.1% |
| President Chain Store 2912.TW | Taiwan | $6.62B | -6% | +5% | 4% | 17.0× | 3.3% | +6.3% |
| Sheng Siong OV8.SI | Singapore | $2.77B | -22% | +10% | 10% | 21.6× | -1.6% | +2.4% |
| Guming 1364.HK | Hong Kong | $7.08B | -4% | +47% | 25% | 14.8× | -4.1% | +29.4% |
| Blue Zones 417A.T | Japan | $2.56B | +11% | +12% | 4% | 15.8× | -4.0% | +9.9% |
| Empire EMP-A.TO | Canada | $7.85B | +7% | +2% | 4% | 13.6× | -2.7% | +2.5% |
| Zabka ZAB.WA | Poland | $8.11B | +41% | +14% | 8% | 25.3× | 6.3% | +19.3% |
| MIXUE 2097.HK | Hong Kong | $8.80B | -37% | +35% | 20% | 11.5× | -18.5% | +32.1% |
| Dino Polska DNP.WA | Poland | $9.36B | +31% | +14% | 6% | 22.2× | 17.9% | +27.1% |
| Shanghai Bailian 600827.SS | China | $1.99B | -5% | -9% | -2% | 15.9× | -3.5% | -6.7% |
| Weis Markets WMK | United States | $1.92B | +10% | +4% | 2% | n/a | 4.3% | +3.8% |
| BGF Retail 282330.KS | South Korea | $1.82B | +9% | +5% | 3% | 10.8× | -18.3% | +7.9% |
| J Sainsbury SBRY.L | United Kingdom | $10.4B | +16% | -3% | 3% | 14.9× | 7.8% | +3.0% |