Hacked, Delayed, Still Aiming for Record Profit: Asahi's Bold Script and Kirin's Footsteps
- Asahi GHD's FY2025 results briefing was delayed five months to July 8 after a cyberattack
- Despite the damage, management presented a plan targeting record profit
- Expanded shareholder returns underpin the stock but strain finances
- Archrival Kirin is closing in while Asahi rebuilds
Asahi Group Holdings finally held its FY2025 earnings briefing on July 8—five months late, after a major cyberattack scrambled its operations. Toyo Keizai asks the obvious question: how does a company hit that hard still present a plan targeting record profit?
The bullish case: Asahi's profit engines—premium European and Oceanian beer brands plus Super Dry at home—emerged structurally intact; the attack inflicted one-off costs, not lasting damage, and a record-profit target doubles as a confidence signal to markets. The shadow side: the stock also rests on expanded shareholder-return promises that kept flowing through the crisis year, compressing financial slack. Any stumble turns those promises from reassurance into shackles.
Meanwhile Kirin has used Asahi's recovery period to press forward, reopening the two-giant rivalry. The case is a live study in how a consumer champion absorbs a cyber crisis: brand fundamentals and shareholder returns bought time—but the premium for that insurance is now visible on the balance sheet.