Revenue is tracking below plan, but the hurdle for meeting the profit plan is low

Revenue for the cumulative third quarter of FY2026, the fiscal year ending August 2026, was ¥7,642.915 million, up 8.2% year on year, while operating profit was ¥410.354 million, up 42.2%. Ordinary profit was ¥416 million, up 60.1%. Net profit attributable to owners of the parent was ¥284 million, down 5.4% year on year. Revenue was approximately 69.5% of the full-year forecast of ¥11,000 million, about 5.5 percentage points below the simple 75% quarterly progress rate, while operating profit had reached approximately 91.2% of the full-year forecast of ¥450 million.

Working back from the full-year forecasts, the company needs approximately ¥3,357 million in revenue, ¥40 million in operating profit, ¥34 million in ordinary profit and ¥76 million in net profit in the fourth quarter. Fourth-quarter revenue in FY2025, the fiscal year ending August 2025, was approximately ¥2,350 million, calculated by subtracting cumulative third-quarter revenue of approximately ¥7,061 million from full-year revenue of approximately ¥9,411 million. The required fourth-quarter revenue this year is therefore approximately 42.9% higher than in the prior-year fourth quarter. However, this is not a simple like-for-like comparison of existing operations, as クレストスキルパートナーズ and other entities were excluded from consolidation in the prior year, while フレームキャリア has been newly consolidated in the current year.

On the profit side, recording approximately ¥40 million in operating profit in the fourth quarter would be sufficient to meet the full-year forecast. The company recorded an operating loss of approximately ¥32 million in the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal year, so a substantial improvement from the prior year is required, although progress through the cumulative third quarter is strong. In the next earnings release, it will be necessary to assess the extent to which the revenue shortfall was offset by recognizing projects in the fourth quarter and by changes in the scope of consolidation, and whether the Marketplace or Agent segment drove the increase in revenue. The company also did not prepare a quarterly consolidated cash flow statement for the third-quarter results, leaving details of operating cash flow, investing cash flow and cash balances undisclosed. The full-year results should therefore be used to examine the relationship between profit and cash flow.