The fiscal year ended February 20, 2011 saw the opening of three new shopping malls in Japan - ÆON MALL Aratamabashi (Aichi Prefecture), ÆON MALL Yamatokoriyama (Nara Prefecture), and ÆON MALL KYOTO (Kyoto Prefecture) - as well as renovations at 12 existing malls. In China, the year saw the opening on September 21, 2010 of ÆON MALL Tianjin TEDA (Tianjin), our second store in China after the ÆON Beijing International Mall Shopping Center (Beijing), opened in 2008.

Along with these initiatives, we continued to promote ongoing cost structure reforms. As a result, operating revenue for the fiscal year under review rose 4.4% year on year, to ¥145.1 billion. Operating income was up 6.6% to ¥39.6 billion, while net income rose 2.6% to ¥22.3 billion, as we recorded a 22nd consecutive term of growth in revenue and earnings (net income).