Sanrio's Japan sales rise 20% as licensing outgrows shops, even as profit slips in Asia and North America
Sanrio's Hello Kitty and Pompompurin business is growing fastest at home: Japan operating profit rose 20% in the first half, while profit fell in both Asia and North America despite higher sales there, a reminder that Sanrio's licensing-led model still earns its keep most reliably on its own turf.
Sanrio Co., Ltd. (サンリオ), the Tokyo-based character licensor behind Hello Kitty and Pompompurin (ポムポムプリン), said consolidated net sales rose 22.9% to ¥107.7bn, operating profit rose 9.4% to ¥42.9bn and net income rose 6.1% to ¥29.2bn in the April–September 2026 half, according to H1 FY2027 results published 6 November.
Japan, its largest segment, grew operating profit 20.1% to ¥30.0bn. Shop and other merchandise sales there rose 16.3% to ¥44.6bn on more domestic buyers, a 30th-anniversary campaign for the character Pompompurin, and bigger sales of prize-draw lottery goods; licensing revenue in Japan rose 30.6% to ¥18.1bn.
Sanrio opened a large-format store, Sanrio Shinsaibashi (サンリオ心斎橋店), in Osaka in July, following last year's Harajuku flagship. Its Tokyo theme park Sanrio Puroland (サンリオピューロランド) set a first-half attendance record; the Oita theme park Harmonyland was hit by the 28 July Kumamoto earthquake, extreme heat and September rain.
Overseas, sales grew but profit did not keep pace. Asia sales rose 31.4% to ¥24.4bn, yet operating profit there fell 4.3% to ¥9.7bn; North America sales rose 7.7% to ¥11.8bn while operating profit fell 31.9% to ¥2.3bn.
Because all of Sanrio's overseas subsidiaries close their books in December, this half's results carry their January–June 2026 performance -- a timing lag against the Japan segment's April–September figures. Operating profit before adjusting for that timing difference was ¥44.6bn, up 20.0%, the company said.
Guidance set on 23 June is unchanged: net sales of ¥229.8bn (+18.4%), operating profit of ¥89.5bn (+15.0%) and net income of ¥63.8bn (+16.8%) for the full year.
The regional split is the story the headline growth rate doesn't tell: Sanrio's Japan business, run directly through its own shops, theme parks and domestic licences, converted revenue into profit far more efficiently this half than either Asia or North America, where growth arrived alongside cost pressure heavy enough to shrink operating profit outright. Read against the regions, this half looks like evidence that Sanrio's most dependable unit remains the one at home.
Operating profit change year on year (%)