First-quarter results are broadly on track for the full-year plan, but operating profit is slightly behind revenue in terms of progress.

Revenue in the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027 was ¥9,911 million, up 6.5% year on year, while operating profit was ¥494 million, up 14.2%. Ordinary profit was ¥504 million and net income attributable to owners of the parent was ¥331 million, up 10.4% and 7.3%, respectively, year on year. Both revenue and operating profit increased, indicating that the overall earnings trend is one of higher revenue and profit.

Progress against the full-year forecast was 25.1% for revenue, calculated as ¥9,911 million divided by ¥39,500 million, and 24.1% for operating profit, calculated as ¥494 million divided by ¥2,051 million. For the first quarter, revenue had reached almost one-quarter of the full-year forecast, and operating profit was not substantially behind, although profit progress was 0.9 percentage points below revenue. The first-quarter operating margin was approximately 4.99%, an improvement of 0.34 percentage points from approximately 4.65% a year earlier, so the figures do not currently indicate deteriorating profitability.

In the fiscal year ended March 2026, revenue was ¥38,938 million and operating profit was ¥1,951 million. Achievement rates against the full-year forecasts at the time were approximately 98.6% for revenue and 95.1% for operating profit. Against this backdrop, the degree of certainty around achieving operating profit should be monitored more closely than revenue in the fiscal year ending March 2027. The company has not disclosed standalone first-half revenue or operating profit forecasts, so ¥19,750 million in revenue and ¥1,025.5 million in operating profit are monitoring benchmarks obtained by simply halving the full-year forecasts, not company targets.

At the next first-half results announcement, we will check not only revenue but also whether the operating margin can be maintained at 4.9% or higher, and whether the first-quarter operating profit growth rate of 14.2% continues on a cumulative first-half basis. If profitability declines in the second quarter alone, operating profit growth in the second half will be required to reach the full-year target of ¥2,051 million. In addition to whether the full-year forecasts are revised, it will also be important to see whether further disclosure is provided on sales volumes, segment profit and the breakdown of increases and decreases in expenses supporting first-half results.