Sojitz Corporation (2768) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon. This is Makoto Shibuya, CFO. I'd like to present Q1 earnings using Part 1 of the slide set in the earnings material. Slide 4 shows the overall Q1 summary. Consolidated profit for the period was JPY 23 billion, up JPY 900 million from the same period a year ago. The result is 21% against the full year forecast of JPY 110 billion announced at the beginning of the fiscal year. Our expectation was 40% in the first half and 60% in the second half, so this result is very much in line. Core operating cash flow was also solid. We will continue to focus on earnings growth accompanied by good cash flow. While I'll save the breakdown by segment for later, let me just say that Automotive is rather slow in comparison to the same period last year as well as against the full year forecast. On the other hand, other segments are steadily in line with or above forecast. Contributing factors include an increase in foreign currency translations of overseas earnings due to the weaker yen and gain on change in equity in an equity method affiliate, SAKURA Internet, after its follow-on public offering. Let me provide further detail with later slides. Slide 5 is the PL summary. Gross profit came to JPY 84.9 billion, up JPY 12.2 billion year-on-year. The breakdown by segment is shown on Slide 9. Gross profit for Metals, Mineral Resources & Recycling was down due to a decline in the price of coal, thermal coal, in particular, but other segments were up. Gross profit increase for Automotive, Energy Solution & Healthcare, as well as Retail & Consumer Service, thanks to newly consolidated operating companies. Gross profit also increased for Aerospace, Transportation & Infrastructure, Chemicals, and Consumer Industry & Agriculture, thanks to earnings growth in existing businesses and some earnings coming in earlier than expected. SG&A was up JPY 9.5 million from the same period last year. More than 50% of this came from either an increase or decrease in consolidated subsidiaries. Another 30% plus came from the weaker yen. Gain on change in equity as a result of the public offering by SAKURA Internet is included in other income and expenses. On a year-on-year basis, however, this line item is almost unchanged due to gain on negative goodwill recorded in the same period last year. Share of profit or loss of investments accounted for using the equity method was JPY 8.6 billion, similar to a year ago. With all that, consolidated profit for the period came to JPY 23 billion. Slide 6 and 7 summarize the balance sheet. On Slide 6, total assets increased by about JPY 190 billion from the end of March. JPY 80 billion was due to foreign currency translations related to overseas affiliates as an effect of the weaker yen. Other contributors include investments as well as an increase in working capital for Retail & Consumer Service, Aerospace, Transportation & Infrastructure, and Metal, Mineral Resources & Recycling. Total liabilities also increased by about JPY 140 billion. Again, the foreign exchange rate accounts for about JPY 40 billion of the increase. In addition, short term financing increase commensurate with working capital. Total equity attributable to owners of the company increased to JPY 971.8 billion, up JPY 47.7 billion. Dividend payments pushed the figure down, but accumulation of profit and an increase in foreign exchange translation adjustments resulted in a net increase here. Please refer to Slide 7 for the key management indicators and the forecast for the year ending March 2025. We have not revised the forecast from what we published at the beginning of the fiscal year. Slide 8 shows cash flow. Cash flow from operating activities was a net outflow of JPY 7.2 billion due to the increase in working capital despite an increase in core operating cash flow. Cash flow from investing activities was a net outflow of JPY 36.3 billion, mainly due to new investment. As a result, free cash flow was net outflow of JPY 43.5 billion. Slide 9 through 11 show PL related results as well as forecast by segment. Slide 9 is about gross profit, which I have covered earlier. Slide 10 shows profit for the period and a year-on-year comparison. Slide 11 shows where we are and the full year outlook. On Slide 10, profit increased year-on-year for Aerospace, Transportation & Infrastructure, Chemicals, and Consumer Industry & Agriculture Business segments. For Aerospace, Transportation & Infrastructure, earnings from business jet operation businesses increased, and some earnings came in earlier than expected for the industrial park business. For Chemicals, profit increased mainly as a reaction to the one-time loss in the previous year. In addition, while the macroeconomic environment was not good, trading volume increased overseas, such as in Asia and the Americas. For Consumer Industry & Agriculture business, the increase mainly came from the overseas fertilizer business, despite the late arrival of the rainy season. On the other hand, profit was down for Retail & Consumer Service, Metals, Mineral Resources & Recycling, and Automotive. For the Retail & Consumer Service segment, profit decreased despite contribution from commercial food wholesale business in Vietnam and robust performance of domestic retail business, outweighed by a reaction to the gain on negative goodwill recorded in the previous year and the downsizing of real estate related businesses in Japan. For Metals, Mineral Resources & Recycling, profit decreased mainly due to the decline in market prices in coal business. Automotive profit decreased despite contribution from automobile sales business in Panama due to a slow recovery of used car business in Australia, low volume in automobile sales business in the Philippines, as well as the recent flooding affecting the dealership business in Brazil. Page 11 shows FY '24 forecast profit for the year by segment. In total, progress against the FY '24 forecast stands at 21%. By segment, progress is generally on track or ahead of schedule, except for the Automotive segment. The rate of progress appears to be a little low for Energy Solutions & Healthcare segment, but as earnings from LNG operating company, et cetera, tend to be weighted more in the second half of the year, we do not see this as an issue. In Retail & Consumer Service segment, recovery of the consumption in Vietnam needs to be monitored closely, but we expect strong performance from the domestic retail businesses and earnings contribution from marine product businesses. One area where we see slight weakness is the Automotive segment. In addition to the anticipated earnings contribution from the automotive sales business in Puerto Rico and Panama, we also need to rebuild the used car sales business in Australia and complete a solid improvement in earnings. We have not incorporated significant earnings in FY '24 outlook, but we are working to complete rebuilding of earnings contribution with steady improvements. We will complete withdrawal from the Philippines automotive sales business by the end of the year to stop loss making. In the Medium-Term Management Plan 2026, which we started this April, the company has set out to realize the Sojitz growth story, focusing on developing an attractive katamari, or businesses that are unique to Sojitz. By sharing this process with our stakeholders, we will aim to raise growth expectations and PER. For this reason, we would like to explain the Sojitz growth story and progress of katamari building at the financial results presentation opportunities such as today. If you could turn to Page 12, this shows the progress of the Vietnam retail business, and on page 13, the marine product business, and page 14, progress in creation of value through digital transformation. In the current Vietnam retail business, the recovery of the Vietnamese consumption and retail market is slow, lagging the speed of earnings growth in our business. The commercial food wholesale business, DaiTan Viet, acquired last year, has captured the demand from the restaurant sector and is contributing to earnings more steadily than expected. In a difficult business environment, we are also working to turn the Vietnam retail business into a large katamari by maximizing group synergies and working on several levers on an individual company basis. In addition, in the first quarter, we invested in Finviet, which is working on digital transformation on the supply chain centered on traditional small retailers in Vietnam. By combining the company's distribution network with our retail business domain, we will take on the challenges of strengthening functions and supply chain transformation. Page 13 shows the marine product business. In the previous MTP, The Marine Foods Corporation and TRY Incorporated were integrated into the group. This is an area where we are taking on the challenge of becoming a distinctive marine product group with strength in tuna and the world's top line up of sushi's ingredients. The approach towards the next stage is to aim for higher earnings from the domestic businesses and to strengthen sales in the growing overseas market. The marine product business and the tuna market, which was weak last year, is showing firmness. In fisheries in general, the market price of some commercial products is rising due to decline in the volume of landings and the depreciation of the yen is also having an impact on sales in Japan. Our group is working to strengthen its raw material procurement and sales capabilities through collaboration among group companies. In addition, in terms of the expansion in the overseas markets, we have acquired a company operating a takeout sushi business in the USA, and we have a given a press release today and we are taking steady steps towards development of katamari. Page 14 explains our progress in creation of value through digital transformation. Co-creation partners are SAKURA Internet and Sojitz TechInnovation, which changes name from Nissho Electronics on July 1st, as shown on the right. As for SAKURA Internet, as a government cloud provider, it is currently working on strengthening its high-spec GPU infrastructure. For this purpose, a public offering was conducted in June as part of capital investment. Under business alliance agreement with SAKURA Internet, Sojitz is also providing human resources support to accelerate further growth. In addition to the growth of SAKURA Internet, Sojitz will utilize the company’s computing resources to promote DX with Sojitz group’s existing businesses and realization of new businesses. Page 15 shows the status of cash flow management with the result for the first quarter of FY '24, FY '24 forecast, and MTP2026 aggregate forecast. Cash flow management is managed in accordance with the policies set out in the medium-term management plan. Please note that there are no changes to the full year and MTP forecast. Page 16 shows investments and asset replacements in the first quarter. New investment in the first quarter came to JPY 21.5 billion. Progress was made mainly in the investments in the food value chain area, such as the DX related business in Vietnam and the takeout sushi business in the U.S. discussed earlier during Sojitz growth story progress. Page 17 and onwards show, for example, on page 17, commodity prices, foreign exchange rates and interest rates, and the assumptions made at the beginning of FY '24. On page 18, shareholder returns policy, stock price and credit ratings. And on page 19 and onwards, please find detailed segment information. And from page 36 are supplementary information for your reference. Finally, to reiterate, progress in the first quarter was generally as expected for the entire company. FY 2024, the first year of the MTP2026, started well. With regard to the outlook, there'll be no shortage of things to keep an eye on in the second half of the year, such as the presidential election in the U.S. and exchange rate trends. What we need to do for the next stages are, we will continue to take bold and determined action to expand our earnings power by refining our existing businesses and continuing to invest in new ones and to strengthen the human resources that are indispensable for this to happen. And by sharing our progress with you, we hope to further raise your expectations of Sojitz. Unfortunately, Sojitz' share price has been sluggish recently, but we will make a PBR of over 1x the norm and strive to further increase our corporate value. So I would like to thank you for your understanding and support in advance. That concludes my explanation. Thank you for your kind attention. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]