The move into operating profitability progressed in the first half, but accelerating profit growth in the second half is needed to meet the full-year target.

Revenue in the interim period of the fiscal year ending December 2026 was ¥8,970.811 million, up 7.6% year on year, while operating profit was ¥112.270 million, up 190.1%. Operating profit improved substantially from ¥38.694 million in the same period of the previous year, and the operating margin rose from approximately 0.46% to approximately 1.25%. The fact that both revenue and operating profit exceeded the year-earlier levels provides evidence of a recovery from the loss-making trend through the previous fiscal year.

However, progress toward the full-year forecasts was 46.65% for revenue, 38.92% for operating profit, 37.74% for ordinary profit, and 36.25% for net profit attributable to owners of the parent. Revenue was close to half of the annual target, while profit was progressing more slowly than revenue. The full-year forecasts are ¥19,230 million in revenue, ¥288 million in operating profit, ¥263 million in ordinary profit, and ¥218 million in net profit. On a simple calculation, this requires adding ¥10,259.189 million in revenue and ¥175.730 million in operating profit in the second half.

The company said that interim-period profit exceeded its initial interim forecast, but it has not changed its full-year forecasts. Its policy is to allocate the first-half profit upside to strategic investment for future growth in the second half, so the first-half operating profit of ¥112.270 million cannot simply be treated as an upside to full-year profit. In addition, the company assumes seasonality in which the fourth quarter is a period of strong demand, so it is necessary to review not only the third-quarter figures but also the timing of orders, deliveries, and investment toward the fourth quarter.

At the next earnings release, the key question will be how closely cumulative nine-month revenue and operating profit approach the simple 75% progress benchmarks of ¥14,423 million and ¥216 million, respectively. Given the seasonality, falling short of these benchmarks would not immediately mean that the plan will be missed. However, the amount of the ¥176 million second-half operating profit target achieved by the end of the third quarter, the remaining amount dependent on fourth-quarter demand, and whether the amount and expense categories of strategic investment are disclosed will be specific points for assessing the reliability of the full-year forecasts.