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

I'm Seiji Tamura, Director and Executive Officer of Casio. Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to view this online briefing. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting us in various ways. Now let me first report to you the consolidated results of the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026. Net sales were JPY 62.2 billion, down 4.6% year-on-year. Operating profit was JPY 3.7 billion, down 17.6% and the operating profit margin was 6%. Ordinary profit was JPY 4.4 billion, down 21.4%. Profit attributable to owners of the parent was JPY 3.7 billion, a 39.8% drop. EPS was JPY 16.32. ROE was 6.8%. These are the results by segment. The Timepieces segment reported lower sales and profit than the previous year. Operating margin was 10.7%. The Consumer segment saw a drop in revenue and increase in profit with an operating profit margin of 5.8%. Businesses that were previously recorded in the Systems segment are now recorded in the Other segment. We did the same for the previous year's results. Adjustments came to minus JPY 1.2 billion. Next, I'll talk about the highlight of the Q1 results by business segment, starting with the Timepieces business. Net sales look pretty much the same as the previous year, but they did increase on a local currency basis. Operating profit margin dropped year-on-year due to the impact of the U.S. tariffs and the foreign exchange rates. The pie chart on the right shows global sales by region. This is a Q1 summary by region. The Timepieces segment as a whole saw sales increase by 3% on a local currency basis. Although China's decline remains large, if you look at the region, excluding China, it recorded a year-on-year increase of 7%. Domestic sales of Casio Watch were strong. The ratio of inbound travel sales to the total domestic sales was almost unchanged from the previous year at 11%. In North America, there were last-minute purchases before high U.S. tariffs kick in. E-commerce showed continued strength. Europe has been performing well for the past few years, but its growth has apparently plateaued. Having said that, Europe still has room for growth as Spain and Italy have recently begun to grow to take over the recent growth of France and Germany. China's online and offline sales continue to be challenging. In other regions, India continues to perform well. In ASEAN, the situation in member countries are not necessarily uniform due to various macroscopic factors. Malaysia, the Philippines are doing well, while Thailand and Indonesia have been sluggish. Latin America, which includes Brazil, performed strongly, thanks to the significant expansion of the domestic demand. Although there are some underperforming nations, the region as a whole was strong. Next, a summary by product. The G-SHOCK ratio in the total Timepieces sales was 44% in the Q1. Casio Watch was performing brilliantly globally, resulting in a decline in the G-SHOCK share in total sales. Next, results by product. The G-SHOCK metal sales of GM-2110D series in the center were strong. The series features a metallic colored octagonal dial. In the G-SHOCK resin, GA-2100BM has been strong. It has an octagonal face with transparent bezel and band. The sales of the GA-V01 on the far right has got off to a good start with its new construction and design. In G-SHOCK Sports, the GBA-950 has been strong. It supports comfortable training. Lastly, Casio Watch, its classical design matches the recent trend. Its demand has been growing, thanks to a variety of design and reasonable price range. Next, EdTech, Education Business. Sales of function calculators and other products have been steady, in line with the plan. The Sound or Electronic Musical Instrument Business continues to face a challenge. A large number of musical instrument shops have been going under in Europe. Next, the latest full-year forecast for the current fiscal year. Factoring in the impact of the U.S. tariffs into the plan, we've reduced operating profit by JPY 3 billion. The impact of the U.S. tariffs is about JPY 1.5 billion for Timepieces, JPY 0.5 billion for the EdTech business and JPY 1 billion for the Sound business. On the far right, it shows each business' share of sales to the U.S. and the ratio by production site for the U.S. market. Considering these things, we have revised operating profit for the full year downward to JPY 21 billion. There is no change to net sales forecast. The table shows full-year sales and operating profit forecast by segment. Going back to the previous page, the negative impact of the U.S. tariffs is assumed to be 15% for Japan; 19% for Thailand; and 30% for China. Now I'll talk about strategies by business segment. Starting with product-specific strategies for the Timepieces business. We will boost product development in the premium and middle lines of G-SHOCK. The aim is to raise unit prices of the high-price range products to improve profitability. In the entry line, we've recently launched many new models. As a result, we've seen marketing costs dispersed across different models. Going forward, we will focus on our iconic or standard models that account for a large proportion of our sales. Our focus on them would consolidate our advertising budget and use it more efficiently to boost profitability. Casio Watch has long been a strong baseline model for the Timepieces business, helped by its low-cost, high-quality lineup. We will apply successes in Casio Watch businesses in Europe to other areas so we can strengthen our products and raise unit prices. Next, Marketing Strategies by region. As a global strategy, we've appointed XG as our G-SHOCK global ambassador. XG is a hip-hop/R&B girls group. The group will help us to send out G-SHOCK's world view. In Europe, we will continue to send a strong brand message with our pan-European ambassador, Central Cee. In other regions in India and ASEAN, we will also leverage local ambassadors. We will aim to increase brand recognition by communicating a unified brand story. Particularly in India, sales have been strong since the previous year to expand the middle-income customer base. We plan to increase the number of touch points by opening specialty stores, not just in the large cities, but regional cities. In South Korea, we opened a flagship store with Cafe in Seoul's renowned shopping district, Gangnam. The next slide shows strategies for the Consumer business for the current fiscal year. In the education business, we'll visit schools and build outlet in preparation for the back-to-school demand in Europe and the U.S. In addition, we will expand sales of highly profitable, New Class Wiz and promote color graph function, a new product. In parallel, we will step up measures against piracy and increase the market share of authorized products. We will implement sales promotion of standard calculators, taking the opportunities of the 60th anniversary of our calculator business. In Brazil, Casio Museum was set up on July 2 at the Historical Museum of Japanese immigration in Brazil, which attracts 80,000 visitors every year. In Education apps, we will continue to enhance features of comprehensive learning platform, ClassPAD.net. In collaboration with our group company, Libry, we will also seek to deliver products to more schools. In the Sound business, we will continue our efforts to boost brand recognition of high value-added products. We are currently developing a new AI engine and plan to release products that offer a new performance style. We embarked on a structural reform last year. This year, we will continue with the efforts with a focus on pulling out from unprofitable businesses and reducing the product lineup to improve profitability. Next, our new business initiatives. First about AI pet robot, Moflin, which was launched last November. Moflin has a heart like a living creature. It's an AI-powered communication robot that gives the holder emotional energy. Its emotion develops through daily contacts with people. The product has been well received by the government -- by the market. It has been popular among a wide range of people, not just those we had initially anticipated. We will grow the business as a profit-making business with a view to expanding overseas as well as to the mental wellness field. We will also create new businesses through the expansion of business areas from our proprietary technologies. The following slides contain supplementary information for your reference, such as the FOREX Sensitivity, detailed Timepieces business data and our balance sheet. This concludes my presentation. Thank you so much for your kind attention. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]