Casio Computer Co.,Ltd. (6952) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

My name is Seiji Tamura. I'd like to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule for this briefing. I would also like to thank you for your continued support. I will report the financial results of the third quarter of fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. As we explained at the briefing for the second quarter, we had a system failure caused by the ransomware attack. It led to an opportunity loss of about JPY 13 billion in net sales and JPY 4 billion in operating profit in the third quarter. As a result, our consolidated sales dropped and so did our consolidated profit in the third quarter. The profit and loss figures are shown on the screen. ROE was 2.5%. This is the third quarter results by segment. Both sales and income decreased in all segments due to the ransomware attack. The results for each segment are shown on the screen. The handheld terminal and electronic cash register business has been transferred from the System Equipment segment to the Others segment as discontinued business. The results for the previous fiscal year are presented by the new classification. The adjustment came to minus JPY 1.4 billion. These are the cumulative results from the first quarter through the third quarter. The full year forecast remains unchanged from the previous time. Opportunity loss from ransomware damage is JPY 13 billion in sales and JPY 4 billion in operating profit shown on the right end of the table. You can also find opportunity loss by segment there. The figures in the table are unchanged from the previous briefing. The impact of the ransomware attack ended in the third quarter and things are returning to normal in the fourth quarter. Now let me explain how we look at the third quarter operating profit of JPY 900 million against the plan of JPY 3.7 billion for the second half. I have some additional comments. It has to do with the technical factors in accounting. Cost variance adjustments affect everything in cost accounting. Indirect cost of manufacturing is allocated to products that have been sold and inventory. Due to smaller output caused by the ransomware attack, allocation of manufacturing overhead to inventory has increased more than those allocated to products sold. As a result, the third quarter's opportunity costs fell and the profit for the quarter rose by that amount. Conversely, profit for the fourth quarter dropped by that amount, which is about JPY 900 million. That means excluding this impact, the actual third quarter operating profit is virtually unchanged. Then that also means the fourth quarter operating profit will be actually JPY 900 million less. However, taken all together, these adjustments do not change our full year forecast of JPY 14 billion in operating profit. Next, I will talk about the third quarter results by segment, starting with the Timepiece business. The Timepiece business suffered an opportunity loss during the Christmas sales due to inventory shortage of new products and the standard products caused by ransomware attack. The pie chart on the right shows sales by region, and the percentage of our focal region of India and ASEAN to total sales has increased to 17%. Next, sales results by product and area. The percentage of G-SHOCK has decreased to 48%. This is due to the opportunity loss caused by the ransomware attack, which affected G-SHOCK most. The overall local currency-based Timepiece sales for the third quarter fell by 14% year-on-year. China continued to see sluggish consumption. Excluding China, the global Timepiece sales dropped by 9% year-on-year. Domestic sales of high-end products such as MR-G and OCEANUS have been strong. Demand from inbound tourists has also increased year-on-year. In North America, efforts to strengthen e-commerce are paying off. Sales in Europe remain strong. Elsewhere, India continues to perform well. Next, the EdTech business and the sound or the electronic musical instruments business. The EdTech is progressing roughly in line with the plan. In the sound, distributors surplus stock is being eliminated, but we are still cautious about actively marketing our products to retailers amid stagnant demand. Next, the System Equipment business. It saw a decrease in revenue due to the impact of the ransomware attack. Next, I will talk about structural reform and what to do with the business with serious issues. This is our portfolio management policy that we shared with you at the previous briefing. The horizontal axis shows the profitability contribution to Casio, and the vertical axis shows the market growth potential. We applauded different businesses on the chart. This fiscal year, we are working to optimize global workforce as part of our company-wide structural reform. We are implementing additional structural reforms in the second half of this fiscal year for electronic dictionaries and sound businesses to improve their profit structure. We will slash production and sales resources into electronic dictionaries in proportion to the rapidly shrinking market. We will also stop developing new models. In the sound business, we will reduce the current product lineup by half, withdraw from unprofitable areas and optimize the size of our workforce to match the market size. This is our business portfolio. We will improve the profitability of the struggling electronic dictionary and sound businesses through additional structural reforms. On top right, our potential growth businesses, such as HR and SMB in the System Equipment business or education apps in the EdTech business. We will assess the competitive landscape and business environment to take a flexible approach to determine future business policies. We will concentrate our management resources on the core businesses of Timepiece and education shown on the right and make business investment, M&A and other strategic investments for further growth. Next, I will talk about the main points of Timepiece business strategy going forward. In the G-SHOCK business, we have different initiatives by time -- price range. In the premium high price range, we will launch premium models and strengthen strategies in department stores and specialty watch stores targeting customers with taste for luxury items. In the mid- to high price range, we will launch models with enhanced visual quality such as color dials and others developed with new technologies. In the basic low-price range, we launched a range of products that fit different price points last August. In addition, we will seek to expand the range of popular products among the use. We will tell a brand story that resonates with them at the time of the relaunch of the first-generation G-SHOCK. In Casio Watch, our low-end model, taking the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of our Timepiece business, we will attract Gen Z by telling them about its history. We will also develop new exclusive retailers and select stores. Next, I'll give you some examples of regional strategies. First, we will communicate with the world the philosophy of Timepieces development and its history as part of our Timepiece business' 50th anniversary sales promotion. In Japan, we set up a G-SHOCK information center in November in SHIBU HACHI BOX near the Hachiko dog statue at Shibuya station. The G-SHOCK presence in Shibuya, where many young people and foreign visitors to Japan gather would spread the recognition of the brand from Shibuya to the rest of Japan and to the world. Next, in Europe, a campaign featuring Central Cee, a pan-European brand ambassador is being well received, where we'll continue to promote initiatives to attract young people. In ASEAN, we will continue with local marketing initiatives for each country. We will further expand the sales of Casio Watch and restructure sales floors of the iconic G-SHOCK brand to help enhance the recognition of these standard products. In India, we have signed up with 2 powerful brand ambassadors, which is proving effective. We will aim to increase brand recognition by opening more specialty stores in major cities. Appendices start here. First, we will rebuild our development base, the Hamura R&D Center in Hamura City to provide our next-generation facilities. The aging of the center prompted us to strengthen co-creation and collaboration. The move has also given us an opportunity to promote an ongoing corporate culture reform through the introduction of ABW, Activity Based Working to promote flexible work styles. Let me go over some interesting topics here. First, we have launched an AI robotic pet named Moflin. The robot evolves emotionally through daily human contact. A crowd-funding campaign by a start-up company, to which Casio granted the technology development license, received 30x more donations than expected. On the right is a heat and moisture resistant sauna watch with a simple function for switching with a single push between time display and the 12-minute counter. A crowd-funding campaign for the product drew attention after having reached the maximum number of units in less than 10 minutes. On the left is a ring watch to commemorate the 50th anniversary of our Timepiece business. The metal work of the ring size watch faithfully reproduces Casio watches' intricate design. Online sales by lottery on the official side attracted more applications than expected. On the right is a product of collaboration with a blockchain game company in a virtual G-SHOCK project. Having G-SHOCK items appear as in-game items is quite innovative. It has offered a new user experience only possible in virtual space. The last topic. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the launch of our first compact electronic calculators. Taking this occasion, we communicated the history of calculator development, which brought about changes in society. We will be conducting a campaign to raise global presence of our calculators. We've also launched a new product, Comfy, the culmination of 60 years of our endeavor. From here, you can find some reference materials. Have a look when you have time. This concludes my presentation. Thank you very much. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]