TOPPAN Holdings Inc. (7911) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

This is Kurobe, the CFO. Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend our fiscal 2025 third quarter results briefing. I will now explain the financial results for the 9-month period. Please turn to Page 2. For the cumulative third quarter, our consolidated results were as follows: net sales increased year-on-year by 5.2% to JPY 1,322.8 billion. Non-GAAP operating profit, excluding impact from acquirement costs, increased 7.5% to JPY 65.6 billion. Consolidated operating profit for the entire company and by each segment generally met our plans. Non-GAAP income, excluding the impact of extraordinary gains and losses, such as gains on the sales of securities, increased 37.9% to JPY 52.5 billion. Key financial points are listed on the right. Both GAAP and non-GAAP results show increased revenue and profit for Information Communication and Living & Industry. Electronics saw decreased revenue and profit due to the deconsolidation of Tekscend Photomask, though FC-BGA profit margins continue to improve. I will explain segment performance in detail later on. Page 3. As Tekscend Photomask transitioned to an equity method entity starting in the third quarter, I will provide a supplementary explanation regarding the profit impact. Due to this transition, the light blue bar showing cumulative company-wide operating profit for Q3 decreased by 15% on a GAAP basis. Conversely, green representing equity method investment profit expanded approximately 3.7x year-on-year. Additionally, while noncontrolling interests were deducted in the consolidated figures up to the second quarter, the transition to an equity method in Q3 resulted in a significant year-on-year decrease in the gray shaded noncontrolling interest. Profit from core operations reflecting these adjustments maintained a level comparable to the previous year as shown by the lines. Next, Page 4. The graphs show changes in the non-GAAP operating profit versus the prior year. From the operating profit of JPY 60.8 billion of last fiscal year, JPY 7.7 billion impact from the transition of Tekscend Photomask to an equity method entity is excluded, resulting in a base figure of JPY 53.1 billion. Foreign exchange impact reduced profit by JPY 1 billion and infrastructure development cost was an impact of minus JPY 1.8 billion. Among growth segments, Erhoeht-X contributed JPY 3.2 billion and Japan SX Overseas Living contributed JPY 12.4 billion, while semiconductors was minus JPY 6.2 billion. Cyclical businesses was minus JPY 1 billion. Existing businesses was positive JPY 6.9 billion due to the effects of structural reforms implemented last fiscal year. These factors resulted in non-GAAP operating profit of JPY 65.6 billion. Next, I will explain the situation for each segment. Please turn to Page 5. Information and Communications segment recorded sales of JPY 663.8 billion, a 2% increase year-on-year, and non-GAAP operating profit increased by 23.3% to JPY 30.7 billion. Overall, for the 3 months in Q3, all subsegments returned to profit growth. In the subsegments, digital business revenue increased due to the new consolidation of HID and dzcard in overseas Secure, contributions from government ID business and growth in Marketing DX and domestic security in Japan. Profit increased driven by stronger sales in Marketing DX and Security in Japan. Profit increased on a non-GAAP basis as well. BPO saw sales growth in the financial sector, but overall revenue and profit declined due to residual effects from onetime large-scale projects in the previous year for public and private sector projects. BPO is steadily expanding order intake for ongoing projects based on its targeted BPO approach and profit turned positive in Q3. Secure Media saw a turnaround to revenue growth driven by strong performance in smart cards and DPS. Profits increased significantly due to higher revenue, improved DPS earnings and contributions from overseas financial printing. Communication Media continues to see an ongoing contraction of the publication and commercial printing markets as well as the impact from the cyclical nature of textbook business, resulting in a sales decline. However, this was offset by the effects of structural reforms, making the profit margin comparable to the previous year. Page 6 summarizes the results for Erhoeht-X for reference. Q3 saw sales increase due to Marketing DX and secure business growth. Profits also increased overall as scaling progressed steadily. Non-GAAP profit increased in all categories. Next is Living & Industry segment. Please see Page 7. Sales in Living & Industry segment increased 27.1% year-on-year to JPY 525.5 billion, while non-GAAP operating profit rose 41.1% to JPY 39.8 billion. Overall, non-GAAP operating profit increased substantially. On a GAAP basis, profitability improved, resulting in a slight profit increase. In Packaging, overseas revenue increased due to the new consolidation of Sonoco TFB business and Irplast, along with a strong performance in Asia. Profit decreased due to a decline in demand in the U.S. food market, a delay in full-scale adoption of SX packaging by European customers in the Barrier Film business and the posting of onetime M&A costs. In Japan, SX packaging saw steady expansion, resulting in increased sales and profits. Decor materials, though the overseas market is still recovering, saw steady sales of decorative sheets in Europe and South America. Profit increased due to higher revenue, cost reductions and structural reform effects. In Japan, profit growth was secured through increased decorative sheet market share and growth in the spatial design business. Next, Page 8. This shows overall packaging and SX packaging sales by region. In overall packaging on the left, the new consolidation of Sonoco TFP business in the Americas, the new consolidation of [indiscernible] Irplast in Europe and the expansion of Barrier Film business increased the overseas ratio from approximately 35% to over 50%. On the right, for SX packaging, both domestic and overseas are expanding, driving overall profitability. Next, the Electronics segment. Page 9, please. Sales for the Electronics segment decreased 28.7% year-on-year to JPY 150.7 billion, and non-GAAP operating profit decreased 36.1% to JPY 26.9 billion, resulting in lower sales and profits. Note that this includes approximately JPY 1.3 billion in negative impact from foreign exchange fluctuations. For the subsegments, the semiconductors saw overall revenue and profit declines due to the deconsolidation of Tekscend Photomask starting from Q3. While FC-BGA revenue and profit decreased for the 3 months in Q3, the comp set of high unit price network switches and server CPUs expanded and profit margin improvements continue. However, changes in product mix have also led to more complex manufacturing processes requiring lower tag time, including existing lines. The new line in Niigata began operations in January, and we plan to gradually increase tag time and expect to reach full capacity by the third quarter of fiscal year 2026. Qualification for new products is progressing as planned. Some are expected to contribute from Q4 and next fiscal year, we will further increase the composition of high unit price products to expand sales and profits. Display saw overall revenue decline and flat profits. Anti-reflective films experienced reduced revenue and profits due to inventory adjustments in the first half, but the trend of improved profit margin continues. Display Solutions centered on color filters and TFT-LCD saw increased profits. Next, Page 10. This shows the performance trend for electronics, excluding our Photomask business, Tekscend Photomask. The left shows overall electronics. Tekscend Photomask sale and profit ratio plays a significant portion. And with the structural reforms in TFT-LCD resulting in sales decline this period, sales shown in the bars and profits shown in the line graphs, you see a recent dip. However, looking at the quarterly trend on the right, sales and operating profit, primarily driven by FC-BGA is improving after bottoming out in Q1. That concludes the performance overview for each segment. Please turn to Page 11. I will explain the key points of the income statement for Q3. Gross profit margin, though impacted by the deconsolidation of Tech and Photomask, improvements were seen in each segment and was flat year-on-year at 23.5% SG&A increased by 0.8 percentage points. The main factors were M&A-related expenses for newly consolidated entities and increased amortization of goodwill and intangible assets. For nonoperating income expenses, in accordance with Tekscend Photomask becoming an equity method entity, equity in earnings of affiliates increased to JPY 4.2 billion. On the other hand, quarterly profit attributable to noncontrolling interest decreased by JPY 4.4 billion. Please turn to Page 12. These figures represent the full year plan and remain unchanged from the half year guidance. For Information and Communication, the outlook is as previously announced. For Living & Industry, with the downturn in the European and American markets for overseas packaging, we were weaker than anticipated, but we expect domestic packaging and decor materials to offset this. For Electronics, while operations at the new Niigata line are proceeding more cautiously than expected, we anticipate positive contributions from other businesses, including displays. Although uncertainties remain in the segments from Q2, we will strive to achieve the company-wide operating profit target of JPY 70 billion, including cost reductions in adjustment segments. Finally, Page 13. These are our upcoming schedules. At the May 14 earnings call, we will also announce our new midterm plan. On June 12, in conjunction with our new midterm plan, we will have our IR Day where we will outline our growth strategy for each segment and new businesses along with our financial strategy. We look forward to your participation. This will conclude my presentation. Thank you for your attention.