IHI Corporation (7013) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

I am Hiromi Oshima, Executive Officer in charge of Group Finance and Accounting at IHI. We will now present an overview of our financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025. The upper section shows the highlights for the third quarter fiscal year 2025. Orders achieved JPY 1,364.8 billion, a record high for Q3, driven by expanding demand in the nuclear energy and other areas. Revenue decreased from the previous fiscal year to JPY 1,129.3 billion due to rebounding from the progress of large projects in the previous year and the impact of business divestitures, including material handling system. Operating profit was JPY 102.5 billion, remained at the same level as the previous year. Although revenue declined, we maintained the same level of profit as the previous fiscal year, which had achieved a record high. In addition, due to improvements in equity method investment income, including from Japan Marine United and others, profit attributable to owners of parent for the third quarter reached a record high. The lower section shows forecast of fiscal year 2025. As demand continues to expand in the nuclear energy and other businesses in Energy business, we are revising our order forecast upward by JPY 90 billion. This fiscal year is the final year of our medium-term management plan. As I will explain later, while accelerating structural reforms, we expect to achieve record highs in orders, revenue, operating profit and profit attributable to owners of parent. We will firmly complete the structural reforms this year to prepare for the next fiscal year and beyond. This page shows a detailed overview of our third quarter results. Please take a look later. Here, we present year-on-year changes by reporting segment. In the top right, orders. As mentioned earlier, orders continue to grow in Energy business, driven by strong demand for nuclear energy, et cetera. In the Aerospace segment, orders declined mainly due to the reaction to a large-scale project recorded in the previous fiscal year. In the bottom left, revenue. Overall revenue declined due to the rebounding from the large projects in the prior year in the Energy segment and due to the impact of business divestiture in Industrial Systems segment. However, Aerospace segment revenue expanded, mainly driven by the Defense segment. In the bottom right, operating profit. I will explain the overall picture on the next page. This page provides an analysis of group-wide operating profit. Starting from the left side of the graph, compared to the same period last year, the average FX rate appreciated by approximately JPY 3 against the U.S. dollar, reducing profit by JPY 1.8 billion. To the right, the deterioration in profitability in Energy segment reflects weaker performance in energy overseas businesses, as explained in the previous quarter, which also reduced profit by JPY 8.3 billion. In order to stop losses from these overseas unprofitable businesses, we are accelerating business structural reforms, including restructuring and liquidation of subsidiaries, resulting in JPY 6.6 billion in related expenses as end of the latest quarter. These downturn in Energy segment and the structural reform costs were offset by JPY 25.7 billion in gains from business divestitures and related items shown by the blue bar to the right. As for Infrastructure, Industrial Systems and Aerospace segments, i.e., business excluding Energy segment, we are seeing a significant improvement in profitability led by vehicular turbocharger and bridge and water gate businesses, which contributed to JPY 6.6 billion increase in profit. On the other hand, install engine sales and aftermarket segment in Aero Engine business reduced profit by JPY 16.5 billion. As shown in the box note in the upper right, although we saw an increase in sales of spare parts, which indicates demand, higher maintenance costs and increase in install engine units outweighed this, resulting in a net negative impact on profit. However, progress in engine maintenance within the aftermarket business, together with the growing number of installer engines indicates that this business is moving in a positive direction, and we view this favorably. In summary, the downside in Energy and the structural reform costs were offset by gains from business divestitures and related items. While the Infrastructure segment and Industrial Systems segment performed steadily due to downward pressure on profit from the Civil aero engine aftermarket business, operating profit overall remained at the same level as the previous year. In other words, although revenue declined, we could still maintain the profit level that marked a record high. Next, Energy segment. As some points have already been explained, I will focus only on the key highlights. Domestic Carbon Solutions, Nuclear Energy and Power System businesses performed steadily. However, Carbon Solutions and other overseas businesses underperformed, significantly reducing the profit. As a result, we are currently implementing decisive structural reforms to stop losses. Specifically, we are accelerating restructuring and liquidation of overseas subsidiaries as well as preparations for business divestitures. We aim to recognize all deterioration within this fiscal year and achieve an early recovery in profitability. Next, Social Infrastructure segment. In this segment, 2 business divestitures have already been completed to date. Please refer to the operating profit graph in the lower left. By the third quarter, we recorded losses associated with these business divestitures. However, profitability has improved, mainly in bridges and water gate businesses, resulting in higher profit year-on-year overall. As a result of initiatives such as strategic order selection implemented through the previous fiscal year, we are seeing improvements in profitability this year, and we believe the business foundation has become more solid. Next, the Industrial Systems segment. In this segment, 3 business divestitures have been completed to date. Please look at the operating profit graph in the lower left. Significant improvements in profitability are also evident in this segment. In the Parking business, LCB expansion has contributed. And in the Vehicular turbocharger business, fixed cost reduction and sales price improvement have taken effect, leading to substantial improvements in the earnings structure. We believe this segment is steadily building its earning power. Next is the Aerospace business. Please look at the sales graph in the upper left. All businesses achieved revenue growth compared to the previous year. Defense business, in particular, expanded significantly. Now operating profit in the lower left. First, the impact of installed Civil aero engines. This period saw increased unit volume as a whole and a decrease in the selling price of the GEnx program selling unit, which pushed down operating profit. Next, aftermarket business, whereas spare parts sales expanded, increased maintenance costs reduced profits. This is due to costs incurred during this period that did not occur last year and accelerated shipments of maintenance engines across the entire program from a customer support perspective. Next, Defense business. While the profit contribution is smaller relative to the revenue growth, defense business typically performs fixed cost recovery and generates profit in the fourth quarter. Therefore, profits are expected to accumulate in the fourth quarter, resulting in a full year forecast for profit level commensurate in accordance with the revenue growth. In summary, there were profit decline due to the increased installed engine sales and with higher maintenance costs in the aftermarket business. However, the increase in installed engines and the progress in maintaining PW1100G engines are very positive for the Civil aero engine business in the medium to long term. Pages 12 and 13 show KPIs related to Civil aero engines, so please refer to them later. Next, balance sheet status. Steady accumulation of profit had improved the ratio of the equity attributable to owners of the parent, meaning the equity ratio. While working capital has increased, this reflects a seasonal pattern of our business where profits and cash inflows expand in the fourth quarter. We will work to implement working capital compression toward the fiscal year-end to strengthen our financial base. Next, the cash flow status. Although working capital improved significantly year-on-year, operating cash flow deteriorated due to increased payments related to powder metallurgy issues and higher tax payments. Our annual operating cash flow forecast is JPY 100 billion, so the deviation may seem large. However, as mentioned earlier, this is primarily due to the high proportion of businesses such as public works, including bridges and defense businesses, where profit recognition and cash flow recovery progressed significantly in the fourth quarter. We will work further implement working capital compression, including through the receivables collection toward the fiscal year-end. This is the FY 2025 earnings forecast. As mentioned in the beginning, we are making an upward revision to our forecast for orders received. Ahead of the new medium-term management plan starting next fiscal year, we are accelerating structural reforms throughout the fourth quarter of this fiscal year. We are intensifying efforts to fully run out any deterioration this fiscal year and thoroughly block downside risks. However, even while implementing these reforms, we expect to achieve record high sales and profits. Next, this is the outlook by segment. Please look at it later. We have made a downward revision to the Energy segment, reflecting the allocation of company-wide restructuring costs. There are no changes for the company as a whole. Finally, this is the progress status of the structural reforms during the current midterm plan period, and that is the change occurred from the previous time. Item circled in the red indicates cases where changes have occurred since the previous announcement. As mentioned earlier, we are accelerating the reformation of business structure in our overseas energy business. This time, we are able to announce the liquidation of an overseas subsidiary as shown in the bottom row. We are also accelerating progress in multiple other projects, and we report on them at the appropriate timing. For the current midterm plan, we are tackling these structural reforms with unwavering determination to see them through to completion. That concludes my explanation. Thank you for your attention.