welcia holdings shares fell sharply tuesday morning after the japanese drugstore operator posted a 19 drop in firstquarter net profit due to higher costs and a fall in pandemicrelated government subsidies the companys shares were recently 10 lower at 27880 yen after falling as much as 11 earlier welcia said monday after market close that net profit dropped to y513 billion 363 million for the quarter ended may from y632 billion in the yearearlier period firstquarter revenue increased 11 from a year earlier to y29827 billion thanks to greater sales of cosmetics and a recovery in demand from international travelers yet pandemicrelated government subsidies have fallen and energy costs have increased sharply weighing on the bottom line the company said welcia kept its earnings projections unchanged for the fiscal year ending february 2024 it expects revenue to climb 75 to y1230 trillion and net profit to increase 36 to y2800 billion