Profit is ahead of the full-year forecast, but revenue needs an additional boost in 4Q

Revenue for the nine months ended 3Q of the fiscal year ending September 2026 was ¥3,123.954 million, and operating profit was ¥835.407 million. The full-year forecast revised in August was ¥4,233 million for revenue and ¥1,025 million for operating profit, giving simple progress rates of 73.8% for revenue and 81.5% for operating profit. Ordinary profit was ¥847.250 million, reaching 81.5% of the full-year forecast of ¥1,039 million, while net profit was ¥581.958 million, reaching 81.4% of the full-year forecast of ¥715 million. Profit is therefore progressing faster than revenue.

The amounts required in 4Q to achieve the full-year forecasts are ¥1,109.046 million in revenue, ¥189.593 million in operating profit, ¥191.750 million in ordinary profit and ¥133.042 million in net profit. The earnings presentation materials showed standalone 3Q revenue of ¥1,059 million and operating profit of ¥246 million, meaning that revenue needs to increase by approximately ¥50 million, or approximately 4.7%, from standalone 3Q. Operating profit, meanwhile, could come in approximately ¥56 million below standalone 3Q and still reach the full-year forecast. At this point, the focus is therefore whether revenue can be built up to the planned level, rather than further accelerating profit growth.

Standalone 3Q operating margin was approximately 23.2%, below the approximately 26.7% margin for the nine months ended 3Q. If the required 4Q operating profit of ¥189.593 million is generated from the required revenue of ¥1,109.046 million, standalone 4Q operating margin would be approximately 17.1%. The profit hurdle is not high if measured solely against achievement of the plan, but if revenue does not grow, the question will again be whether the level of operating profit after the upward revision can be maintained.

As of 2Q, the full-year forecast was ¥883 million for operating profit, ¥887 million for ordinary profit and ¥617 million for net profit, and these were raised in 3Q to ¥1,025 million, ¥1,039 million and ¥715 million, respectively. The revenue forecast was unchanged at ¥4,233 million. However, the 3Q earnings summary referred readers to a separate disclosure for details of the reasons for the revisions, and the earnings presentation materials did not show progress against the full-year forecasts, the levels required for the remaining period or the company's own assessment of the plan. In the next earnings release, it will be necessary to confirm how far actual revenue exceeded the required amount of ¥1,109 million and whether achievement of operating profit of ¥1,025 million was attributable to temporary cost factors.