The key focus for FY2027-H1 is the ramp-up in operating profit, taking seasonality into account.

For the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027, revenue was ¥716 million, operating profit was ¥14 million, ordinary profit was ¥36 million, and net profit attributable to owners of the parent was ¥20 million. The fact that the company was profitable from the operating level through to net profit is an improvement, but because consolidated financial statements were not prepared for the same period of the previous year, year-on-year revenue and profit comparisons have not been disclosed. Rather than relying on simple revenue growth or profit growth rates, it is necessary to track the absolute amounts accumulated against the full-year plan.

The full-year forecasts are revenue of ¥3,600 million, operating profit of ¥136 million, ordinary profit of ¥111 million, and net profit attributable to owners of the parent of ¥53 million. First-quarter progress was 19.9% for revenue, 14.8% for adjusted EBITDA, 10.3% for operating profit, 32.4% for ordinary profit, and 37.7% for net profit, indicating a gap between progress in revenue and operating profit. The company assumes that sales and profits in the food-service industry are seasonally weighted toward October through March due to year-end and New Year parties. It is therefore premature to conclude that the plan will be missed solely because operating profit is below the simple 25% quarterly benchmark, but if operating profit is well below the simple half-year benchmark of ¥68 million at the end of H1, the concentration of profit required in the second half will increase.

First-quarter adjusted EBITDA was ¥37 million, representing 14.8% progress against the ¥250 million full-year forecast. The ¥23 million gap from operating profit of ¥14 million reflects a cost structure that includes approximately ¥7 million in depreciation and amortization of goodwill. In FY2027-H1, it will be necessary to confirm not only whether revenue increases, but also whether adjusted EBITDA approaches the simple half-year benchmark of ¥125 million and operating profit builds to around ¥68 million.

The full-year forecast was maintained after the first quarter, and the company said it was still examining whether revisions were necessary. In its H1 disclosure, it will be important to distinguish revenue contributed by businesses acquired through M&A from revenue generated by the existing business, the second-half weighting caused by seasonality, and the impact of higher raw material, labor, and logistics costs. In particular, because the disclosure constraint of having no year-on-year comparison remains, it will be difficult to assess the likelihood of achieving the full-year forecast based on the figures alone unless the company provides comparable monthly revenue or supplementary segment profit data after the change in the scope of consolidation.