Returned to profitability in Q1, but acceleration in the second half is needed to achieve the full-year plan

FY2027-Q1 revenue was ¥10,615 million, up 32.7% from ¥7,998 million in the same period of the previous year. Operating profit turned positive at ¥275 million, compared with an operating loss of ¥514 million in the same period of the previous year. Ordinary profit was ¥366 million, and net profit attributable to owners of the parent was ¥328 million. The operating margin is not directly disclosed in the quarterly financial report, but calculated from revenue and operating profit it was 2.6%.

The full-year forecasts are revenue of ¥60 billion, operating profit of ¥5.5 billion, ordinary profit of ¥4.7 billion and net profit attributable to owners of the parent of ¥3 billion. As of FY2027-Q1, these forecasts were unchanged from the previous forecasts. Compared with simple equal progress across 4 quarters, revenue progress was 17.7% and operating profit progress was 5.0%, both below the 25% of the fiscal year elapsed. To achieve the full-year forecasts, the remaining 3 quarters would need to generate revenue of ¥49,385 million and operating profit of ¥5,225 million, or average quarterly revenue of approximately ¥16,462 million and operating profit of approximately ¥1,742 million.

The company's explanation attributed the revenue increase to steady execution of customers' capital investment plans in the semiconductor and photomask equipment business, and to large-panel demand and capital investment in the FPD equipment business being broadly in line with expectations. However, the company has not disclosed the amount of revenue or profit contributed by each factor, or profit fluctuations arising from fixed-cost absorption, product mix or delivery timing. In FY2027-H1, it will be necessary to check not only whether revenue increases, but also whether the operating margin improves from 2.6% in Q1.

The annual dividend forecast is ¥80 per share, unchanged from the FY2026 actual dividend. No numerical targets for the shareholder return policy, such as the payout ratio or DOE, could be confirmed in the disclosures reviewed this time. Accordingly, points to check in the first-half results are whether the company maintains both its profit and dividend forecasts, and whether it provides a quantitative explanation for any revision to the full-year forecasts.