Q1 growth was driven by Education Institution Support and Promotion Support, while revenue declines and losses remain in Human Resources Solutions

Consolidated revenue in Q1 was ¥1,217 million, up 16.6% year on year, while operating profit was ¥132 million, up 11.9%. With full-year forecasts of ¥4,500 million in revenue and ¥255 million in operating profit, progress rates reached 27.0% for revenue and 51.8% for operating profit. Profit is well ahead of revenue in terms of progress, but the company has disclosed seasonality in which revenue from the Human Resources Solutions business is concentrated in the second half, particularly Q4. It is therefore too early to judge full-year performance based solely on Q1 profit progress.

By segment, revenue in Human Resources Solutions was ¥292.669 million, down 9.9% year on year, and the segment posted a loss of ¥31.203 million. Education Institution Support, meanwhile, reported revenue of ¥497.118 million, up 8.2%, and segment profit of ¥129.388 million. Promotion Support reported revenue of ¥427.765 million, up 64.7%, and segment profit of ¥37.440 million. At this stage, consolidated profit growth has been supported more by contributions from Education Institution Support and Promotion Support than by improvement in Human Resources Solutions.

The company explained that initiatives related to accepting international students and proposals outside admissions departments contributed to Education Institution Support, while mailing services and orders related to local governments contributed to Promotion Support. However, it has not disclosed the contribution of each initiative to revenue or profit. In Human Resources Solutions, growth in peripheral services such as recruitment process outsourcing has been indicated, but operating KPIs such as order intake, the number of participating companies at events and the number of recruitment placements have not been disclosed.

In the next report, FY2027-H1, we will check not only whether consolidated revenue approaches around 50% of the full-year forecast, but also whether revenue in Human Resources Solutions recovers year on year and whether its segment loss narrows. Key issues in assessing the quality of consolidated performance will include whether profit in Education Institution Support was inflated by first-half seasonality, whether higher revenue in Promotion Support reflects recurring administrative and mailing services, and whether additional breakdowns of revenue and profit by business are disclosed.