Will the strong first-quarter profit progress carry through to the first-half and full-year forecasts?

FY2027-Q1 revenue was ¥6,158 million, up 9.0% year on year, and operating profit was ¥613 million, up 1.2%. Ordinary profit was ¥630 million, down 0.7%, while net income attributable to owners of the parent was ¥366 million, up 5.9%. The full-year forecasts are revenue of ¥23,000 million, operating profit of ¥2,000 million, ordinary profit of ¥2,050 million, net income attributable to owners of the parent of ¥1,220 million, and EBITDA of ¥2,620 million. The company views first-quarter progress as broadly in line with its forecasts.

Profit progress was ahead of revenue progress, at 30.7% for operating profit, 30.8% for ordinary profit, 30.1% for net income, and 29.3% for EBITDA, compared with 26.8% for revenue. Securing approximately 30% of full-year operating profit in the first quarter was solid, but the first-quarter progress rate cannot be applied directly to full-year achievement because the business includes seasonal operations such as live events and cafés. In particular, ¥1,387 million of operating profit must be generated over the remaining 3 quarters against the full-year forecast of ¥2,000 million.

FY2026 results were revenue of ¥22,858 million and operating profit of ¥1,957 million. The FY2027 company forecasts call for revenue growth of only 0.6% and operating profit growth of 2.2% year on year, indicating a significant slowdown from the previous year’s sharp profit growth. First-quarter operating profit was up only 1.2% year on year, so the current focus is to assess whether the results are consistent with the company’s plan of maintaining a high profit level while remaining broadly flat for the full year.

In the next results announcement, we will check whether first-half operating profit can reach around ¥1,000 million, the simple benchmark based on an even allocation of the full-year forecast, and whether revenue can reach around ¥11,500 million. However, the company did not prepare a cash flow statement for the first quarter and has not disclosed a breakdown of cost of revenue or SG&A by expense item, or the business- and cost-level assumptions incorporated into the full-year forecasts. In FY2027-H1, it will be important to see whether the company provides additional explanations not only of profit progress but also of the second-half revenue and operating profit required, and of cost assumptions including event costs and personnel expenses.