Asahi Group Hit by Ransomware Attack, Causing Major Sales Decline and Supply Chain Disruptions Asahi Group Holdings Ltd. reported a sharp decline in November alcohol sales in Japan, worsening from a nearly 10% year-over-year drop in October to over 20% in November. The decline was attributed to a September ransomware attack that crippled internal systems, disrupting production, order processing, and shipments—particularly for year-end gift products. While soft drinks and food sales showed partial recovery, soft drinks still fell 25% (down from 40% in October), and food products dipped 10% (improving from a 20% decline). The attack forced Asahi to rely on manual transaction processing, slowing operations and allowing competitors like Kirin Holdings (which saw a 1% sales increase) and Sapporo Holdings (down 12%) to gain market share. Asahi expects its supply chain to be largely restored by February but warned of a "short-term impact" on earnings, delaying its financial results by over 50 days. In November, Asahi disclosed that up to 1.9 million records of private information may have been compromised, with additional leaked data appearing on the dark web this week. No ransom was paid. Despite the disruptions, Asahi’s shares rose 0.2% on Wednesday, up 6.2% for the year.