Accelerating sales and turning profitable from Q3 onward are necessary to meet the full-year forecast

Revenue for the first half of FY2026 was ¥2,295 million, up 8.4% year on year. With the full-year revenue forecast at ¥4,833 million, first-half progress was approximately 47.5%. Although first-half progress was approximately 2.5 percentage points below the 50% mark corresponding to half of the fiscal year, the company has not revised its full-year earnings forecast. In Q3, whether cumulative revenue approaches the simple 75% benchmark of approximately ¥3,625 million will be the first criterion for assessing the validity of the full-year forecast.

On the earnings front, the company posted a first-half operating loss of ¥25 million, an ordinary loss of ¥32 million and an interim net loss attributable to owners of the parent of ¥50 million. By contrast, the full-year forecasts are operating profit of ¥5 million, ordinary profit of ¥3 million and net loss attributable to owners of the parent of ¥15 million. On a simple difference basis, the company will need to secure operating profit of ¥30 million, ordinary profit of ¥35 million and net profit of ¥35 million in the second half. As the plan calls for a shift from a first-half loss to full-year operating profitability, Q3 improvement needs to be assessed not only by amount but also by whether stationery or robot equipment contributed.

Quarterly fluctuations are also significant. Q1 revenue was ¥1,303 million, operating profit was ¥37 million, ordinary profit was ¥33 million and profit attributable to owners of the parent was ¥24 million. Calculated from the difference between these figures and the first-half cumulative results, standalone Q2 revenue was ¥992 million, operating loss was ¥62 million, ordinary loss was ¥65 million and net loss was ¥74 million. The reasons why the Q1 profit was lost in Q2, including the relative impact of seasonality, product mix, the timing of robot equipment project recognition and raw material costs, should be examined in the next results announcement.

By segment, the stationery business increased both revenue and profit in the first half, while the robot equipment business posted a loss and weighed on company-wide operating results. The earnings summary explains the effects of price revisions, higher-value-added products and non-metal nibs, but does not disclose a specific quarterly sales and earnings plan for Q3 onward against the full-year forecast or the profit and loss contribution by factor. In Q3, we will track whether the full-year forecast is maintained or revised, as well as whether the projects, products and cost reductions needed to achieve second-half profitability are described in greater detail.