Can growth investment led by revenue growth, with profit growth following later, remain within plan in the first half?

In the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2027, revenue was ¥1,290.4 million, up 26.9% year on year, while operating profit was ¥125.9 million, down 20.8%, ordinary profit was ¥127.0 million, down 20.1%, and net profit attributable to owners of the parent was ¥73.5 million, down 33.0%. The operating margin was approximately 9.8%, indicating that revenue growth has not translated directly into profit growth.

The full-year forecasts are ¥5,487 million in revenue, ¥394 million in operating profit, ¥394 million in ordinary profit and ¥260 million in net profit attributable to owners of the parent, representing year-on-year growth rates of 27.9%, 11.3%, 11.3% and 5.6%, respectively. As of the first quarter, progress was 23.5% for revenue and 31.9% for operating profit. Although profit progress exceeded revenue progress, the company materials did not provide numerical progress rates against the full-year forecasts or the amounts required in the first half.

The reasons given for the decline in profit include proactive hiring ahead of expected growth in orders, systems development costs for AI services, and sales personnel costs. However, the company has not disclosed the number of hires, employee headcount, increases in systems development or sales personnel costs, or their contribution to total expenses. In the first-half results, it will be necessary to assess not only the extent to which operating profit recovered year on year, but also whether these investments are one-off startup costs or ongoing fixed-cost burdens that will continue into the second half and beyond.

Revenue of ¥2,743.5 million and operating profit of ¥197.0 million are mechanical benchmarks based on 50% of the full-year forecasts and are not first-half targets provided by the company. Therefore, absent a company explanation that takes seasonality into account, failure to reach these levels cannot by itself be determined. At the same time, once first-half results, segment profit and investment costs are available, it will be possible to assess whether margins are temporarily declining as a result of prioritizing revenue growth or whether a recovery toward the 11.3% full-year profit growth forecast has begun.