Asahi sees profits nosedive following cyber-attack
Asahi Group Holdings has seen its profits decline as a result of “unavoidable” consequences since hackers launched a cyber-attack on its business and took down its system last year.
The Japanese drinks giant revealed in its third quarter results, which was measured from 1 January through to 30 September 2025, that operating profit declined 5.5% year-on-year and declined 4.6% year-on-year on a constant currency basis.
‘Unavoidable’
Speaking about the results, Asahi Group Holdings president and group CEO Atsushi Katsuki said: “In Europe and Asia Pacific, we are making steady progress on initiatives to drive growth, including improved unit sales prices and earnings structure reforms. In Japan and East Asia, while the impact of the system disruption is unavoidable in the short term, [referring to performance from October 2025 onward] we remain confident in the resilience of our business foundation, underpinned by a robust brand portfolio.”
The cyber-attack and resulting system disruption occurred on the morning of 29 September 2025. As shipments were suspended following the disruption, production at our factories in Japan was halted from the afternoon of the same day. Consequently, the impact on the January–September reporting period was limited to approximately one and a half days. Accordingly, the impact of the system disruption on revenue for the January–September period was limited. Its effect on core operating profit was also limited, estimated at around 1%.
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Last November, Asahi revealed that the knock-on effect of the attack had placed 1.5 million customers’ data at risk after hackers got into the beer group’s system. However, despite setbacks, the beer business saw the total sales volume of its global brands continue to grow, with Asahi Super Dry up 13% and Peroni Nastro Azzurro up 5%, excluding home markets.
Increased brand awareness
Katsuki explained: “Our global brands continue to increase awareness through global partnerships, with Asahi Super Dry delivering double-digit growth, supported by partnerships with the Rugby World Cup and City Football Group.”
Irrespective of its recent challenges, Asahi’s forecast for the full year 2025 however remains unchanged and regarding the way the business now views its security, it has also assured that “in light of the recent cyberattack, we will further strengthen our efforts to date, shifting to a system based on continuous monitoring and improvements, and strengthen our system to minimise the impact in the event of an emergency”.
Addressing the setback along with the Q3 results, Katsuki added: “We will continue to proactively strengthen our business portfolio to enhance corporate value over the medium to long term.”
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