Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. (6302) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, everyone. I am Shinji Shimomura, President of the company. Thank you very much for participating in today's financial results briefing. The company announced its financial results for the second quarter of FY 2024 at 3:00 p.m. today on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The following is a description of its contents. Today's explanation covers these 3 items. After explaining the financial results for the second quarter of FY '24 and the earnings forecast for the fiscal year, I will discuss the status of Medium-Term Management Plan 2026, which started this year. First, let's take a look at the overview of our FY '24 second quarter financial results. In terms of the market environment, while the manufacturing sector in Japan showed signs of gradual recovery, the recovery of the semiconductor market faltered. Overseas, North America performed relatively well, while in Europe, monetary tightening caused the economic downturn to continue. In China, cooling in the real estate market led to a slowdown in demand, which also spread to Southeast Asia. Under these circumstances, during the second quarter of FY '24, the company received orders totaling JPY 453.1 billion, achieved net sales of JPY 520.4 billion and generated operating profit of JPY 33.3 billion. When compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year, orders decreased, mainly due to inventory adjustments for hydraulic excavators and lower demand in the semiconductor sector. Net sales decreased in Mechatronics and Industrial Machinery, but increased overall. This was due to foreign exchange gains and backlog orders in other segments that led to sales increases. Operating profit increased due to higher sales and favorable exchange rate differences. Here is the financial summary. Current profit showed little change from the previous fiscal year, staying at JPY 23.5 billion. As a result, we will pay an interim dividend for the first half of JPY 60 per share. Here are the results by segment. Details of each segment will be explained later. This is a comparison of operating profit with the previous fiscal year. While the weaker yen was a positive factor, sales fluctuations and higher sales and general administrative expenses were negative factors. Next is the balance sheet. Total assets are JPY 1,256.8 billion. Next is the cash flow statement. Cash flows from operating activities were JPY 11.7 billion due to an increase in working capital. Investment cash flow turned negative due to acquiring tangible and intangible fixed assets, resulting in negative free cash flow of JPY 12.1 billion. Next, I will explain the earnings forecast for FY '24. Taking into consideration the situation in the first half, we have revised our forecast for FY '24 to orders of JPY 1.03 trillion, net sales of JPY 1.07 trillion and operating profit of JPY 65 billion. Compared to our previous forecast, orders will decrease due to inventory adjustments of hydraulic excavators in North America, a decline in energy plant projects and a delay in the recovery of the semiconductor-related market. Net sales will decrease due to a decline in orders, mainly in Logistics & Construction. Operating profit will fall due to lower sales despite the positive effects of exchange rate fluctuations. As explained on the previous page, we revised our earnings forecast. However, the dividend remains unchanged from our previous forecast at JPY 125 for FY '24, a total return ratio of 65.9% and a return on invested capital of 5.6%. Compared to the previous period, despite a decline in sales, operating profit will benefit from the effects of exchange rates. Sales and general and administrative expenses will be a negative factor due to increases in personnel and R&D expenditures. Before explaining our forecast for performance by segment, I will discuss the business environment outlook for FY '24. Here, we compare the outlook at the start of the year with the present outlook. Inventory adjustments for gear reducers have taken longer than expected among electric control customers in Europe, but we expect to shift toward recovery in the second half. In Plastics Machinery, the recovery of the Chinese market, especially In electric & electronic-related products, has been slower than expected. Europe also remained sluggish, but we expect overall demand to recover in the second half of the fiscal year. In hydraulic excavators, rental customers in Japan and North America remain cautious about placing new orders. In general, semiconductor-related market conditions have bottomed out and are on a recovery trend. However, the recovery of demand for our products is slower than expected. Based on the product outlook and industry business environment, here are our forecast for orders, sales and operating profit by segment. Here, I'll explain the revisions to our February forecast broken down by segment. In Mechatronics, in light of the inventory adjustments and electric controls in Europe, we have lowered our forecast for orders, sales and profits. In Industrial Machinery, we have lowered our forecast for orders, sales and operating profit. This is based on the slow pace of the recovery in European and Chinese markets for plastic processing machines and of the recovery in the semiconductor-related market. In Logistics & Construction, we lowered our forecast for orders and sales because of the ongoing inventory adjustments for rental hydraulic excavators in the United States. We expect operating profit to fall slightly due to lower fixed costs and favorable exchange rates. In Energy & Lifeline, we have lowered our forecast for orders due to the decline in boiler projects at energy plants. But our forecast for sales is unchanged, and we expect operating profit to increase slightly. Next, I'll explain the segments, focusing on a comparison with the previous fiscal year. First, Mechatronics. In the first half of FY '24, while the Japanese market for gear reducers was strong, China continued to be sluggish. In addition, for motors and inverters, orders, sales and operating profit all decreased due to lower demand attributable to inventory adjustments by customers in Europe. Orders are expected to increase in FY '24, assuming the demand in Europe and China will begin to recover in the second half. Sales and operating profit are projected to decline due primarily to the impact of inventory adjustments of electric control products in Europe. The second page of each segment shows the 6-year trend of orders, net sales and operating profit as reference information. In Mechatronics, sales composition by model is shown for the gear reducer business. There is no significant change in sales composition compared to the previous period. Now let's turn to Industrial Machinery. In the first half of FY '24, Plastics Machinery orders, sales and operating profit all decreased due to a slowdown in demand centering on electric and electronics-related products in China and continuing sluggish investment in Europe. In FY '24, orders are expected to increase from the second half as the market recovers, particularly in China and Japan. Sales and operating profit will decline due to a decrease in orders. In the first half of FY '24, other industrial machinery orders decreased due in part to inventory adjustment and investment postponement by customers, resulting from stagnation in the semiconductor market. However, both sales and operating profit increased partly because there was a large backlog of orders. In FY '24, orders and sales are expected to rise as the semiconductor market recovers. Operating profit will decrease due to an increase in development expenses and other fixed costs. For Industrial Machinery, sales of injection molding machines by segment and orders and sales of ion implanters are shown. There is no significant change in sales composition of injection molding machines compared to the previous period. Next is Logistics & Construction. Orders for hydraulic excavators fell in the first half of FY '24. This was due to a drop following the surge in last-minute orders and advanced orders in Japan and the United States during the previous fiscal year. Sales increased due to favorable exchange rates despite a decline in unit sales in the United States. Operating profit saw a rise due partly to price revisions in Japan. In FY '24, orders and sales are expected to decrease due to inventory adjustments in the United States. Operating profit will increase due to lower fixed costs and favorable exchange rates. In other Logistics & Construction, mobile cranes saw increases in orders, sales and operating profit during the first half of FY '24 because demand remains strong in both North America and Japan. For industrial cranes, orders increased due to large-scale projects. Sales and operating profit were roughly level with the previous year because there were a few projects that could be factored into sales in the period under review. FY '24 orders are expected to decrease due to a reduction in projects for Industrial Cranes. Sales and operating profit will increase mainly due to the rise in demand for mobile cranes in North America. In addition to demand for hydraulic excavators by region, the Logistics & Construction page provides information on industrial and mobile cranes. Demand for hydraulic excavators by region in FY '24 will remain almost flat compared to FY '23 with the exception of Europe. Finally, let's look at Energy & Lifeline. In the first half of FY '24, orders for energy plants fell due to fewer large-scale renovation projects in Europe, but sales increased due to variations in the progress of construction work. Operating profit fell slightly due to higher development costs. In FY '24, orders will increase due to an increase in the number of projects. Sales will decline because of a reduction in projects that can be factored into sales in this fiscal year. Operating profit is forecasted to decrease due to an increase in development costs associated with LAES commercialization. For other businesses, orders in the first half of FY '24 decreased partly as a result of the suspension of new shipbuilding orders from FY '24 onwards. Sales decreased because there were a few projects that could be factored into sales in the period under review, but operating profit increased as a result of improving the profitability of individual projects. For other businesses, orders in FY '24 are expected to decrease due to the halt in new shipbuilding orders. However, sales and profits are projected to increase. Here are changes in the results of Energy & Lifeline. The last part of our forecast is about the status of the semiconductor-related business. In the first half of FY '24, the semiconductor-related business achieved sales of JPY 46.0 billion. This was mainly driven by ion implantation equipment in cryopumps. Our annual forecast is JPY 102 billion, an expected increase of about JPY 9 billion from last year. Here, we will discuss our Medium-term Management Plan 2026. In Medium-Term Management Plan 2026, our basic policy is to develop a robust entity as we work toward achieving our ideal state by 2030. To achieve the 3 key issues, we are carrying out strategies from both corporate and segment perspectives. First, let's review the implementation status of the corporate strategy for the first half of the fiscal year. In Our initiative to promote business portfolio reformation, we have halted new shipbuilding orders and are currently manufacturing container cranes at the Yokosuka Works. We are also working to advance the offshore wind power business based on our energy and Lifeline strategy. In terms of our capital policy, we have completed the JPY 10 billion share buyback we had planned for this fiscal year. On the next page, we will provide a detailed explanation of sustainability, which is part of strengthening new business exploration and reinforcing the management foundation. In terms of the first point, strengthening new business exploration, we opened our Boston office in April. We plan to build a strong network of ties with universities, research institutions and start-ups in the United States that have advanced technologies. This will allow us to gather technology information in key investment areas and discover innovative new businesses that we can combine with our existing technologies and products. Next is strengthening the business base. In line with Medium-Term Management Plan 2026, we reviewed our material issues in sustainability and set indicators and targets for our activities. We believe that addressing these challenges will improve the group's value to society. Next is the implementation status of our segment strategies. In the robotics and automation sector of Mechatronics, we are planning to establish an innovation center within the British company, Invertek. Our autonomous mobile robot, KeiganALI, has seen strong sales, leading us to set up a dedicated department at one of our Japan sites and prepare for international expansion. In the semiconductor sector, we are expanding production capacity in Yokosuka by adding clean rooms and increasing staff. We are also broadening our procurement sources to shorten lead times. We are also moving ahead with the setup procedures and detailed design for our stage evaluation center in the United States. In the semiconductor sector of Industrial Machinery, we are developing new ion implanters, aiming for market launch in 2025. In the robotics and automation field of logistics and construction, we have advanced research on using generative AI for automated excavation and remote control of hydraulic excavators. We have also started offering digital transformation tools to help boost productivity in the shipbuilding industry. In the environment and energy area of Energy & Lifeline, we set up a task for to promote offshore wind projects and strengthen our renewable energy efforts. I will now outline 4 key points from the progress of our segment strategy. In Mechatronics, we developed a wall climbing robot with advanced maneuverability for automation of work at large steel structure manufacturing sites. We will address the growing need for inspecting and maintaining aging infrastructure and meet the demand for automation due to labor shortages. In the Industrial Machinery sector, we are developing next-generation medium current ion implanters for memory and logic semiconductors and high-temperature injection machines for SiC power semiconductors. We are targeting release in 2025 to swiftly meet growing demand. In the Logistics & Construction division, we developed digital transformation tools for the leading shipbuilding crane supplier in Japan. We will enhance productivity and support preventive maintenance by visualizing the operating status of cranes at shipbuilding sites. Going forward, we will speed up our business while looking at expanding into industries beyond shipbuilding. In the Energy & Lifeline sector, we launched an offshore wind power project. By adapting our technologies in large structure manufacturing, we can cater to both fixed and floating offshore wind turbine foundations. We will leverage our Yokosuka Works in Eastern Japan and in Saijo, planted our Ehime Works in Western Japan as we work to capture growth opportunities by actively expanding our offshore wind power business. It has been 6 months since we started Medium-Term Management Plan 2026. While the business environment has changed rapidly, our corporate and segment strategies have progressed smoothly. To achieve the goals of Medium-Term Management Plan 2026, we will carry out measures focusing on our key issues, improve earning capacity, increase capital efficiency and strengthen the search for new businesses. The following pages are for reference only and will not be explained. This concludes my explanation. Thank you for your attention and dedication and loyalty to our company. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]