Can the company recover its full-year plan in H2 after lower revenue and profit in H1?

FY2026-H1 revenue was ¥1,671 million, down ¥57 million from ¥1,728 million in the same period of the previous year. Operating profit was ¥75 million, down approximately ¥38 million from ¥114 million, and the operating margin declined to 4.5% from approximately 6.6%. Operating profit fell 33.6%, significantly more than the 3.3% decline in revenue, meaning that H1 results reflected not only lower revenue but also deterioration in profitability.

Meanwhile, the company maintained its FY2026 forecasts of ¥3,688 million in revenue, ¥298 million in operating profit, ¥290 million in ordinary profit and ¥205 million in net income attributable to owners of the parent. Comparing H1 results simply with 50% of the full-year forecasts, revenue was at approximately 45.3% and operating profit at approximately 25.3%. Achieving the full-year forecasts requires approximately ¥2,017 million in revenue and ¥223 million in operating profit in H2 alone, implying an H2 operating margin of approximately 11.1%. This is substantially above the H1 operating margin of 4.5%.

The Q2 earnings presentation stated that H1 revenue fell ¥91 million short of plan, while operating profit exceeded plan by ¥6 million, or 9.4%. However, it did not explicitly state the cumulative progress rates against the full-year forecasts. On a standalone basis, Q2 revenue was ¥856 million and the company posted an operating loss of ¥8 million, a significant swing from standalone Q1 revenue of ¥856 million and operating profit of ¥84 million. In FY2026-Q3, it will be necessary to assess not only cumulative revenue and operating profit but also whether the company can secure standalone operating profitability in Q3.

At the next earnings release, we will assess where cumulative Q3 revenue and operating profit stand against the simple 75% progress benchmarks of ¥2,766 million and approximately ¥224 million, respectively. If these levels are not met, it will be necessary to examine which factors fell short, including growth in corporate revenue, recovery in the number of individual customers, reduced losses in Talent Solutions and cost controls. If the full-year forecasts are maintained, a key focus will also be whether the company provides additional quantitative explanations, such as the value of new projects, customer numbers and cost assumptions needed to generate approximately ¥223 million in operating profit in H2.