Sojitz Corp Unsp/Adr

Good afternoon and thank you very much for joining us for the Q1 Earnings Briefing for Sōjitsu Corporation. This is Makoto Shibuya, Managing Executive Officer and CFO. I'd like to first provide a summary using the slides titled Financial Results for the First Quarter ended June 30, 2023. They are available on our website. Let me start with slide 5 titled FY23 Q1 Summary. Q1 consolidated profit for the period came to ¥22.1 billion. This is 23% of the full-year forecast of ¥95 billion, and we are generally on track. Compared with the same period a year ago, profit is down by 51% due to deterioration in coal market conditions, lower prices of chemicals, and an artifact of the one-time gain last year. Core operating cash flow in the period came to a net inflow of 35.2 billion yen. As such, we have continued to generate both cash and earnings. The one numerical target of our medium-term management plan that has yet to be achieved is PBR. At the end of June, our shares traded at 3,177 yen for a PBR of 0.83. and is currently just below 0.9. We will continue our efforts for quality earnings growth and bring it above 1. Slide 6 shows consolidated profit or loss. Growth profit came to 72.7 billion yen, down 24.2 billion yen from the same period a year before, as decline in coal prices resulted in lower profit for metals, mineral resources and recycling. SG&A increased by 4 billion yen due to newly consolidated subsidiaries. Other income and expenses mostly comes from negative goodwill associated with the acquisition of a frozen tuna processing and sales company. Share of profit or loss of investments accounted for using the equity method came to 8.6 billion yen, down 2 billion yen from a year ago. This includes profit decline at a steel trading company. So that was about profit for the period. Slide 7 shows the summary consolidated balance sheet. Total assets at the end of June stood at 2,763.1 billion yen, up about 100 billion yen from a year ago. The weaker yen accounts for about 80 billion yen of this, mostly at overseas subsidiaries. What was 133 yen to the dollar at the end of March came to 145 yen to the dollar at the end of June. Trade and other receivables decreased due to aircraft-related transactions, but this was more than offset by the acquisition of new consolidated subsidiaries. On the liability side, we did execute new financing, but as was the case with assets, there was an impact of the foreign exchange rate. As a result, total liabilities came to 1,857.3 billion yen, up 73.1 billion yen from the end of March. Total equity attributable to owners of the company came to 864.9 billion yen, up 27.2 billion yen from the end of March. This comes from profit for the period, dividends paid, the foreign exchange rate, as well as the ongoing share buyback program. By the end of June, we had repurchased 4,750,000 shares worth about 13.9 billion yen. We also retired Treasury stock on the 7th of April in the amount of 15,300,000 shares worth 24.3 billion yen. This does not affect total equity attributable to owners of the company. Key financial indicators are listed to the right. There's nothing specific to mention here. Slide 8 summarizes cash flow. Cash flow from operating activities came to a net outflow of 13.8 billion yen. Core operating cash flow increased, but working capital also increased. Cash flow from investing activities was a net inflow of ¥24 billion. Outflows included new acquisitions such as the frozen tuna processing and sales company, as well as energy conservation business and used car sales company, both in Australia. Inflows included those from aircraft-related transactions. Core cash flow was an outflow of ¥21.3 billion due to dividend payments and the share repurchase. Slides 9 to 11 describe profit figures and outlook by segment. Today, I would like to focus on profit for the period by segment. Slide 10 summarizes year-on-year difference in profit by segment. As I mentioned earlier, the profit decline mostly comes from metals, mineral resources, and recycling due to the decrease in coal prices. This segment accounts for about 70% of the total decline. Chemicals were also down due to lower commodity prices as well as a one-time loss related to collection risk of receivables related to Asian trading. Consumer industry and agriculture business is down but in line as a reaction to last year's very strong performance of building material business and fertilizers in the Philippines. Retail and consumer service is up, mostly thanks to that negative goodwill in association with a new investment, as well as tangible recovery in domestic retail business. Slide 11 shows Q1 results against the full year forecast. The percentage achieved differs among segments, but we are maintaining the overall forecast this time. Consumer industry and agriculture business earnings was coming in rather slow in Q1, with fertilizer business in Thai affected by the late arrival of rain. However, we hear that the rain has arrived in July and sales are now turning up. While it is always difficult to predict the weather or El Nino, we believe the percentage achieved would eventually come up in future quarters. For retail and consumer service, we are seeing tangible recovery in domestic retail businesses, as I mentioned earlier. Internationally, some businesses may be a little slow, but we are taking appropriate measures so that in the end, this segment should come in line with or perhaps above forecast. We are carefully watching chemicals. Business in China for items used in home appliances and automotives is falling behind plan, and it appears difficult to expect significant improvement during the year. The demand slowdown in China is causing price erosion elsewhere due to products being diverted. Against this backdrop, we recorded that one-time loss. We are currently working on ways to make up for all this by other businesses within the segment. Slide 12 describes cash flow management. With regard to investment recovery, while the percentage achieved may be low, we have carefully planned for each specific investment and we see no concern at this point in time. For new investments, more details are on slide 13. In Q1, we executed about 40 billion yen. In addition, there is about 120 billion yen worth that has already been approved internally. While we are selective, we believe we are on track to make the targeted level of investments. Slide 14 is about shareholder returns. There is no change here. Slide 15 describes the stock price and credit ratings. We are happy to note that the way we have maintained financial health and increased profit levels are recognized, and S&P upgraded us to BBB in June and JCR to AA in July. Slide 17 summarizes relevant market indices such as commodity prices, the exchange rate, and interest rate. Please also find additional information in sections 2 and 3 of the slide set, which includes more detail on each segment and past financial results. This concludes my presentation. Thank you very much for your kind attention.