Revenue has returned to growth, but margin recovery is still underway

FY2027-Q1 revenue was ¥27,786 million, up 2.5% year on year, while operating profit was ¥3,097 million, down 5.3%, ordinary profit was ¥3,138 million, down 7.8%, and quarterly net profit was ¥2,140 million, down 8.4%. Operating profit declined despite higher revenue, indicating that profitability is recovering more slowly than revenue. According to the earnings presentation, gross margin was 45.3%, down 0.1 percentage point year on year, while operating margin was 11.1%, down 1.0 percentage point.

In the most recent comparable period, FY2026-H1, revenue was ¥45,900.9 million, down 1.1% year on year, and operating profit was ¥3,756.6 million, down 21.1%. In FY2027-Q1, revenue returned to growth and the decline in operating profit narrowed to 5.3%, but whether operating profit can clearly exceed ¥3,756.6 million, the year-earlier figure, in FY2027-H1 will be the benchmark for determining whether the company has entered a recovery phase.

The full-year forecasts are revenue of ¥86,278 million, operating profit of ¥4,300 million, ordinary profit of ¥4,440 million and net profit of ¥2,730 million, representing year-on-year growth of 6.0%, 9.2%, 6.5% and 20.3%, respectively. FY2027-Q1 represented 32.2% of the revenue forecast and 72.0% of the operating profit forecast, but demand is strongest in spring and profit is weighted toward the first half. It is therefore too early to judge full-year achievement based solely on the high operating profit progress rate. In FY2027-H1, the three points to confirm are whether revenue exceeds the year-earlier level, whether operating profit recovers, and whether the full-year forecasts are maintained or revised.