The first quarter was broadly on track against the full-year forecast, but repeatability in the first half is the focus

Revenue in the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027 was ¥2,854 million, up 4.4% year on year, while operating profit was ¥335 million, up 6.4%. Ordinary profit was ¥352 million, up 11.2%, and quarterly net income attributable to owners of the parent was ¥235 million, up 3.5%, with all four key items exceeding the same period a year earlier. The operating margin was approximately 11.7%, calculated as ¥335 million divided by ¥2,854 million.

The current full-year forecasts are revenue of ¥11,600 million, operating profit of ¥1,250 million, ordinary profit of ¥1,200 million and net income attributable to owners of the parent of ¥800 million. First-quarter progress was approximately 24.6% for revenue, 26.8% for operating profit, 29.3% for ordinary profit and 29.4% for net profit. The supplementary materials summarised these figures as approximately 25%, 27%, 29% and 29%, respectively. If half of the full-year forecast is used simply as a mid-year benchmark, revenue of ¥5,800 million and operating profit of ¥625 million provide comparison points, but these are not mid-year forecasts disclosed by the company.

The increase in profit in the first quarter was driven by the start of mass production of new models for communications equipment, higher sales of products used in electronic-component manufacturing processes and products for industrial equipment, and higher sales of high-margin products. Rush demand ahead of price revisions also contributed to earnings, so quarterly demand may have been above normal levels. Although performance improved from revenue of ¥2,735 million and operating profit of ¥315 million in the same period a year earlier, achieving the full-year forecast will require revenue of ¥8,746 million and operating profit of ¥915 million in the second quarter and thereafter.

At the next interim results, we want to confirm not simply that the first-quarter progress rates are maintained, but also second-quarter standalone revenue and operating profit, the continuation of mass production of new communications-equipment models, and volume trends after the price revisions. In particular, it will be important to see whether operating-profit progress can remain at 27% or higher even if revenue progress is around 25%, and whether ordinary-profit and net-profit progress of around 29% reflects one-off foreign-exchange or other special factors.