Asahi reports sharp December alcohol sales decline as cyberattack fallout continues
Asahi says alcohol and soft drinks sales fell sharply in December as recovery from last year’s cyberattack remains ongoing.
JAPAN – Asahi Group Holdings has reported another decline in alcohol sales in December, as the Japanese drinks group continues to deal with the operational fallout from a cyberattack that disrupted its domestic business late last year.
In a statement to investors, the Nikka whisky owner said sales in its Asahi Breweries division dropped by more than 20% in December compared with the same month in 2024. The company said the unit’s preliminary revenue for the month “was in the upper 70% year-on-year.”
The brewer added that sales performance for the October to December period was similarly affected, confirming that preliminary revenue for the quarter “was in the low 80%” of the level recorded in the same period a year earlier.
Asahi was hit by a cyberattack at the end of September, which resulted in a “systems failure” that disrupted production and distribution across its domestic operations. While factories in Japan resumed operations around a week later, the company said the incident continued to weigh on sales performance.
In its update, Asahi said it would disclose full sales figures for its Japanese operations “once the systems are fully restored,” indicating that reporting remains constrained by ongoing recovery efforts.
The impact of the cyberattack extended beyond alcoholic beverages. Asahi’s soft drinks unit, which produces brands including Calpis and Wanda, also reported a year-on-year sales decline of more than 20% in December. Preliminary revenue for the division was also described as “in the upper 70%” compared with December 2024.
However, the company noted a slight improvement from November, when sales in the soft drinks unit were “in the mid 70%” of the level generated in the same month last year.
Meanwhile, Asahi’s food business in Japan proved more resilient. The group said sales in the division for December were “in the mid 90%” of the level recorded in December 2024.
In November, the Peroni beer brand owner disclosed that nearly two million people could have had personal data leaked in connection with the cyberattack.
Asahi said around 1.5 million of those potentially affected were customers who contacted customer service centres at Asahi Breweries, Asahi Soft Drinks and Asahi Group Foods, all of which serve the Japanese market.
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