Revenue rose, but operating profit more than halved, making recovery in fourth-quarter profitability the key focus.

Revenue for the nine months ended September 2026 was ¥60,911 million, an increase of ¥2,613 million, or 4.5%, from ¥58,298 million in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Operating profit, however, decreased by ¥3,038 million, from ¥5,688 million to ¥2,650 million, representing a 53.4% decline. A simple calculation of the operating margin shows a decline of 5.41 percentage points, from approximately 9.76% in the same period of the previous fiscal year to approximately 4.35% in the current period, indicating that the increase in revenue has not translated into higher profit.

The full-year forecasts are revenue of ¥83,000 million, operating profit of ¥4,500 million, ordinary profit of ¥5,200 million and profit attributable to owners of the parent of ¥3,200 million. Operating profit for the nine months represents 58.9% of the full-year forecast, well below the 73.4% progress rate for revenue. The operating margin implied by the full-year forecast is approximately 5.42%, requiring a clear increase from the 4.35% recorded for the nine months in the fourth quarter.

The company explained that the weaker yen increased orders and revenue when translated into yen, but that insufficient revenue, primarily in Europe, higher selling, general and administrative expenses, mainly personnel costs, and business-structure improvement costs in Europe reduced profit. However, no quantitative breakdown has been disclosed showing by how many millions of yen the translation effect of the weaker yen, lower volumes in Europe and higher personnel costs each reduced operating profit.

At the next full-year results announcement, it will be necessary to assess not only whether operating profit of ¥4,500 million was achieved, but also the fourth-quarter operating margin, the profit contribution from the powder-related and plastic-film-related businesses, the recovery in European revenue and whether the increase in personnel costs has run its course. In particular, it will be important to determine whether full-year operating profit was achieved through temporary foreign-exchange translation effects or the timing of expense recognition, or through sales volume and sustainable improvement in profitability.