After an upward revision to the FY2027 full-year forecast, Q1 was broadly on plan, but profit progress requires monitoring

First-quarter revenue was ¥329,130 million and adjusted operating profit was ¥34,439 million, up 7.5% and 55.7%, respectively, from ¥306,152 million and ¥22,123 million a year earlier. The full-year forecast as of Q1 was revenue of ¥1,470,000 million and adjusted operating profit of ¥150,000 million, implying simple progress rates of 22.4% and 23.0%. The gap between revenue and profit progress was only 0.6 percentage points, meaning that profit was advancing slightly faster than revenue on the surface.

The full-year forecast was revised upward when the Q1 results were announced, with the revenue forecast raised by ¥40,000 million from ¥1,430,000 million and the adjusted operating profit forecast raised by ¥10,000 million from ¥140,000 million. The mechanical benchmarks to monitor in FY2027 H1 are revenue of ¥735,000 million and adjusted operating profit of ¥75,000 million, equivalent to 50% of the full-year forecasts. These are not company guidance figures for the first half, however, but simply benchmarks for tracking progress without taking seasonality into account. In addition to year-on-year profit growth, the cumulative first-half amounts and whether the full-year forecasts are maintained or revised again need to be monitored.

First-quarter profit attributable to owners of the parent was ¥28,037 million, up 148.6% year on year, but the ¥10,989 million gain on sales of fixed assets and other items boosted profit through non-operating and other income. It is therefore inappropriate to regard the increase in net profit as a direct indication of improved core earnings power. FY2027 H1 will be assessed by separating adjusted operating profit progress, any one-off factors such as fixed-asset sales, and the gap between cumulative first-half results and the full-year forecast.