Achievement Against Net Sales and Ordinary Profit Plans

「During the interim accounting period, revenue fell slightly short of the company-wide forecast because the Media Information business, the general segment of the Recruitment Services business and the New Graduate Recruitment business progressed below forecast. The IT Staffing business progressed in line with the forecast, while the New Graduate Media business and the middle segment of the Recruitment Services business progressed above forecast. In terms of profit, we continued to contain company-wide costs by achieving more efficient and effective advertising, and profit remained above the forecast.」

「At the same time, as companies tightened their hiring standards amid uncertainty over the economic outlook, our sales process and efforts to acquire registrants progressed smoothly, and both company-wide revenue and profit reached record highs. As a result, revenue for the fiscal year was ¥18,646.255 million, up 5.1% year on year. Operating profit was ¥1,582.805 million, up 10.5%; ordinary profit was ¥1,604.321 million, up 11.6%; and net profit was ¥1,100.768 million, up 11.8%.」

「Under these circumstances, our performance during the interim accounting period slightly exceeded the forecast in both revenue and profit.」

「During the fiscal year, our performance fell substantially short of the initial forecast because hiring standards at companies that continued recruiting became even more stringent in the recruitment services business, which has a high recruitment fee per placement. This reduced the offer acceptance rate and slowed growth in the number of concluded placements.」

「During the cumulative second quarter, the Media Information, New Graduate and IT Staffing businesses generally performed in line with the forecasts. However, in the recruitment services business, which has a high recruitment fee per placement, hiring demand had risen rapidly during the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in the previous fiscal year. As recruitment at companies that had experienced this surge in demand became largely complete, demand began to level off. Among companies that continued recruiting, hiring standards also became more stringent, reducing the offer acceptance rate. These changes in the recruitment market, which exceeded our initial expectations, slowed growth in the number of concluded placements. As a result, our performance fell short of the first-half forecast announced on 8 November 2023.」

「Under these circumstances, the company’s results for the fiscal year reflected higher revenue, driven by revenue from the media information and graduate media businesses. Profit declined because, in addition to strengthening the sales structure and various measures to acquire registered users for fixed-term staffing in the IT staffing business, the company made upfront investments in engineer recruitment costs and personnel expenses associated with the launch of indefinite-term staffing. As a result, revenue for the three months ended in the first quarter was ¥4,393,455 thousand, up 2.5% year on year. In terms of earnings, operating profit was ¥419,901 thousand, down 11.9%, ordinary profit was ¥419,468 thousand, down 10.8%, and net income was ¥288,326 thousand, down 10.6%.」

「Under these circumstances, the company’s results for the fiscal year were below the initial plan for revenue because revenue from the IT staffing business remained below plan. However, revenue from the other businesses, particularly the women’s area, increased. Revenue from the women’s area in the media information business increased 33.6% year on year, while revenue from the engineer area increased 0.8%.」

「Under these circumstances, although revenue from the IT staffing business remained below plan for the nine months ended in the third quarter, the company’s results exceeded plan because the other businesses performed steadily. As a result, revenue was ¥13,064,874 thousand, up 14.4% year on year. In terms of earnings, operating profit was ¥1,324,782 thousand, up 34.0%, ordinary profit was ¥1,317,666 thousand, up 33.8%, and net income was ¥904,026 thousand, up 33.5%.」

「Under these circumstances, although revenue from the IT staffing business remained below plan for the six months ended in the second quarter, the company’s results exceeded the initial plan because the other businesses performed steadily.」

「Under these circumstances, the company’s revenue for the three months ended in the first quarter exceeded plan.」

「Under these circumstances, the company’s revenue for the fiscal year significantly exceeded the initial plan. As a result, revenue was ¥15,507,606 thousand, up 64.3% year on year. In terms of earnings, operating profit was ¥1,102,384 thousand, up 683.3%, ordinary profit was ¥1,101,094 thousand, up 609.1%, and net income was ¥793,589 thousand, down 14.5%.」

「Under these circumstances, the company’s revenue and ordinary profit for the nine months ended in the third quarter both significantly exceeded plan. As a result, revenue for the nine months was ¥11,417,080 thousand, up 82.0% year on year. In terms of earnings, operating profit was ¥988,645 thousand, up 1,083.3%, and ordinary profit was ¥984,815 thousand, up 917.6%.」

「Under these circumstances, the company’s revenue and ordinary profit for the six months ended in the second quarter both significantly exceeded the initial plan.」

「Under these circumstances, the company’s revenue for the three months ended in the first quarter significantly exceeded plan.」

「Under these circumstances, the company’s revenue for the fiscal year significantly exceeded plan.」

「Under these circumstances, the company’s revenue for the nine months ended in the third quarter significantly exceeded plan. Although the company invested in advertising as described above, ordinary profit for the nine months also exceeded plan because revenue increased more than expected.」

「Revenue for the six months ended in the second quarter significantly exceeded plan.」

「Revenue for the three months ended 30 September 2020 increased from the previous fourth quarter, from 1 July 2020 to 30 September 2020, and significantly exceeded plan.」

「As a result, revenue for the fiscal year was ¥11,021,168 thousand, down 9.3% year on year. In terms of earnings, the company recorded an operating loss of ¥244,648 thousand, compared with operating profit of ¥995,237 thousand in the previous year, and an ordinary loss of ¥219,676 thousand, compared with ordinary profit of ¥1,003,156 thousand in the previous year.」

「Revenue from the media information business and the graduate recruitment business was significantly below plan. This was because the number of client companies declined as some employers cancelled or reduced their hiring activities, and revenue decreased following the cancellation of events and other activities hosted by the group from April onward.」

「Although revenue from the engineer market in the media information business and the other businesses were broadly on plan, the decline in revenue from the media information business could not be fully offset, resulting in revenue coming in slightly below plan.」

「Under these circumstances, the group’s revenue for the fiscal year exceeded plan. Although revenue from the women’s market in the media information business slowed, declining 7.1% year on year, revenue from the engineer market performed steadily and the other businesses also broadly exceeded plan. On the expense side, salaries for temporary staff increased as revenue from the IT staffing business grew, but ordinary profit also exceeded plan as a result of company-wide cost controls.」

「Under these circumstances, the group’s revenue for the fiscal year was on plan. Although revenue from the recruitment services business was significantly below plan, the other businesses performed steadily.」

「Under these circumstances, revenue for the nine months ended in the third quarter exceeded plan, as revenue exceeded plan with application effectiveness in the media information business continuing to show signs of improvement. On the expense side, advertising expenses were increased in line with higher revenue from the media information business, but ordinary profit exceeded plan because other costs were controlled company-wide.」

「Under these circumstances, revenue for the six months ended in the second quarter exceeded plan. In particular, although revenue growth in the media information business slowed as the effectiveness of applications declined in the previous fiscal year, new member acquisition and application effectiveness showed signs of improvement following the advertising campaign launched in January 2019 featuring Toshiyuki Kasuga of Audrey as the new image character, among other initiatives. As a result, revenue from the media information business exceeded plan. On the expense side, we invested in advertising and measures to strengthen “type” as initially planned, but ordinary profit exceeded plan because other costs were controlled company-wide.」

「Under these circumstances, revenue from the media information business was below plan, but the other businesses exceeded plan, resulting in first-quarter revenue being on plan. Although first-quarter revenue from the media information business was below plan, orders in December of the current fiscal year increased by double digits year on year and remained strong, as sales efforts were strengthened in the first quarter ahead of an advertising campaign featuring Toshiyuki Kasuga of Audrey as the new image character for “type” from the second quarter. These orders are expected to be recognized as revenue in the second quarter. On the expense side, advertising expenses increased as the media information business conducted a medium-scale advertising campaign in October 2018, but ordinary profit exceeded plan as a result of company-wide cost controls.」

「Although the IT staffing business performed steadily, the group’s revenue came in slightly below plan because revenue from the media information business slowed in the third quarter. Despite thorough company-wide cost management and efforts to improve profitability, ordinary profit fell below plan because the decline in revenue from the media information business could not be fully offset.」

「Although the IT staffing business performed steadily, the group’s revenue came in slightly below plan. Despite thorough company-wide cost management and efforts to improve profitability, ordinary profit fell below plan because the decline in revenue from the media information business could not be fully offset.」

「The group’s revenue came in slightly above plan, mainly because revenue from the IT staffing business performed steadily. Ordinary profit was below the previous year because approximately ¥150 million in total was recorded for the cost of an employee trip conducted as part of employee benefits and costs associated with expanding the office. However, thorough company-wide cost management and efforts to improve profitability resulted in ordinary profit exceeding plan.」

「The group’s revenue was on plan. This was because, in the media information business, revenue from the engineer market performed well as a result of continued efforts since the previous fiscal year to strengthen the sales structure, while the other businesses also performed broadly steadily. On the expense side, salaries for temporary staff increased as revenue from the IT staffing business grew, and fixed costs increased due to office expansion. However, ordinary profit exceeded plan as a result of company-wide cost controls.」

「The group’s revenue for the fiscal year exceeded plan. This was because revenue from the engineer market in the media information business, which had slowed in the previous fiscal year, showed signs of improvement and exceeded plan. The IT staffing business also exceeded plan, while revenue from the other businesses was broadly on plan. On the expense side, recruitment costs and personnel expenses exceeded plan as employee retention improved and hiring was strengthened to expand performance from the next fiscal year onward. However, because revenue exceeded plan, these higher costs were offset and ordinary profit was on plan.」

「Under these circumstances, the group’s revenue increased 14.9% year on year. This was attributable to signs of improvement in revenue from the engineer market in the media information business, as well as revenue from the recruitment services and IT staffing businesses exceeding plan. Ordinary profit came in below plan because personnel expenses increased as employee retention improved following changes to the personnel system implemented from the previous fiscal year, particularly in the media information business, and because hiring was strengthened to expand performance from the next fiscal year onward.」

「Although the media information business and graduate media business were slightly below plan, the engineer market, which had been a challenge, showed signs of improvement, while the recruitment services and IT staffing businesses exceeded plan, resulting in revenue above plan. On the expense side, salaries for temporary staff increased in line with higher revenue in the IT staffing business, but ordinary profit came in on plan as a result of company-wide cost controls.」

「Under these circumstances, although challenges remained in the engineer market of the media information business, as they had in the previous fiscal year, revenue was broadly on plan, driven by the recruitment services and IT staffing businesses. On the cost side, personnel expenses increased as we continued to focus on hiring from the previous fiscal year, but ordinary profit was also broadly on plan as a result of controlling costs, mainly advertising expenses.」

「The group’s revenue came in slightly below plan. This was because, although we implemented various measures to improve the engineer market in the media information business amid intensifying competition with other companies to attract registered users, and revenue showed signs of recovery in the second half, full-year revenue fell below the previous year. However, the recruitment services business and the women’s market in the media information business continued to perform steadily. On the expense side, the company-wide cost controls implemented since the previous fiscal year, starting with advertising expenses, enabled ordinary profit to reach a record high for the first time in 9 years.」

「Revenue was broadly on plan, driven by the recruitment services business. On the expense side, ordinary profit was also broadly on plan as a result of controlling costs, including advertising expenses.」