Profit is ahead of the full-year forecast, while revenue is broadly on plan

First-quarter revenue was ¥179,807 million, down 1.1% year on year, representing progress of 23.8% against the full-year revenue forecast of ¥754,000 million. This was slightly below the simple quarterly run rate of 25%, and while revenue alone does not indicate a major delay, the full-year forecast itself is down 2.4% year on year, which warrants attention.

By revenue category, vegetable oils generated ¥71,869 million, up 13.7% year on year; emulsified and fermented ingredients generated ¥23,513 million, up 4.6%; and soybean processing ingredients generated ¥9,062 million, up 6.6%. Commercial chocolate, meanwhile, generated ¥75,362 million, down 14.0%, and the largest revenue-declining segment weighed on overall progress. The focus for H1 will be how much the revenue growth in vegetable oils and other categories can offset the decline in commercial chocolate.

Profit for the quarter attributable to owners of the parent was ¥5,572 million, up 78.0% year on year, representing progress of 28.6% against the full-year forecast of ¥19,500 million. Operating profit also rose 90.9% to ¥8,946 million, while profit before tax rose 137.2% to ¥7,577 million, indicating that profit improvement exceeded revenue growth. However, no monetary breakdown by factor has been provided for the decline in cocoa bean-related costs or the increase in sales volume of soybean processing ingredients.

The simple H1 target line is ¥377,000 million in revenue and ¥9,750 million in net profit. In addition to whether H1 results exceed these levels, it will be important to confirm whether the full-year forecast is maintained and whether a full-year operating profit forecast is disclosed. Full-year forecasts are currently provided for revenue and net profit, but not for IFRS operating profit, preventing a direct assessment of progress against the plan on an operating-profit basis.