Japan's Seven & i says Q4 profit fell 15%

TOKYO, April 9 (Reuters) - Japan's Seven & i Holdings 3382.T said on Wednesday fourth-quarter profit fell 15%, a result that is likely to hamper its ability to fend off a takeover attempt by Canada's Alimentation Couche-Tard ATD.TO.

The operator of 7-Eleven convenience stores booked operating profit of 105.6 billion yen ($726.4 million) for the December-February period.

That compared with the 94.45 billion yen average of eight analyst estimates compiled by LSEG and 124.23 billion yen earned in the same period a year prior.

($1 = 145.3800 yen)