Yakult Honsha Co Ltd

This is Narita speaking. Thank you very much for joining our financial results briefing today, despite your busy schedule. First, I would like to explain the H1 results and the full year outlook, covering both our domestic and overseas businesses. Details of the financial results will be presented later by the Executive Officer in charge of accounting. Let us begin with the consolidated results for H1. Net sales and all profit levels declined year on year. By segment, our business in Japan experienced both lower sales and lower profit. This was mainly due to the sales volume of dairy products, including the Yakult 1000 series, falling short of both plan and the previous year. Meanwhile, the overseas business recorded increased sales volume compared to the previous year. However, higher operating costs, such as raw material costs, personnel expenses, and marketing expenses, combined with negative foreign exchange effects, resulted in both lower sales and lower profit. As for the full-year forecast, we expect sales volumes to recover in H2. Nevertheless, considering the results of H1, we have reassessed our full-year outlook and decided to revise downward our forecasts for net sales, operating profit and ordinary profit. While the H1 results fell short of our targets, we are determined to recover in H2 by promoting sales further, as well as implementing new public relations and advertising initiatives in Japan. Overseas, in addition to continued growth in the Americas, we expect recovery in the Asia and Oceania region which should contribute to overall performance improvement. Regarding dividends, based on our policy of pursuing a progressive dividend to achieve continuous increases, as we have already announced, the interim dividend was increased by 1 yen from the previous year to 33 yen. We project a year-end dividend of 33 yen, resulting in an annual dividend of 66 yen, an increase of 2 yen from the previous year. We consider it important to continue giving shareholder returns our constant attention. Next, I will describe our domestic and overseas businesses, starting with Japan. In H1, the average daily sales volume of dairy products was 9.16 million bottles, down 7% year on year. Consumer sentiment weakened due to rising prices, while competition from other companies intensified, further tightening the business environment. Although we had planned to expand sales through Yakult Ladies, their activities slowed due to the record-breaking heat, resulting in sluggish sales. For key products, such as the Yakult 1000 series and the new Yakult series, we believed focus measures for improvement are necessary. In H2, we will work to increase sales through promotional campaigns, revitalizing Yakult ladies' activities and in-store operations, and enhancing evidence-based advertising. We aim to achieve an average daily sales volume of 9.3 million bottles for the full year. Now, moving on to the performance of the Yakult 1000 series. In H1, the average daily sales volume was 2.97 million bottles, down 2.5% year-on-year. This decline was partly due to a reactionary decrease following the surge in demand for the Yakult 1000 series. This fiscal year, we launched a new low carb type in both the home delivery and retail store channels, expecting to attract new customers and drive further growth. However, many customers simply switched from existing products, leading to limited net customer increases. On the other hand, since many people continue to experience sleep issues, we see opportunities to acquire new customers by having them personally experience the effectiveness of our products. Awareness and understanding of the low-carb types are gradually expanding. We view this period as one that requires persistence and will continue developing our customer base patiently. Reflecting current conditions, we have revised the full-year average daily sales target to 2.98 million bottles. Next, the performance of the new Yakult series. In H1, the average daily sales volume was 2.79 million bottles, a decline of 10.6% year-on-year. Since the 2023 price revision, sales volumes have been decreasing and there are still no clear signs of recovery. We consider it essential to achieve an early turnaround. As one measure for recovery, we launched new Yakult peach flavor, which has been already sold overseas on a limited time basis starting this month. As in the past, we will continue to promote the value of Lacticaceae bacillus Paracaceae strain Shirota and encourage interested customers to drink Yakult brand products on a daily basis, thereby leading to a recovery in sales volume. Initial sales have been extremely favourable. Considering current conditions, we have revised the full year target for average daily sales volume to 2.84 million bottles. We will focus even more effort on various activities to boost sales volumes in H2. Last month, the Yakult brand was officially certified by Guinness World Records as the largest lactic acid drink, lactic acid bacteria drink brand. Following this recognition, our domestic Yakult series has begun gradually introducing special commemorative packages to increase visibility. In addition to energizing activities in both the home delivery and retail store channels, we will launch campaigns linked to our 90th anniversary and roll out diverse advertising initiatives, including those supporting exam takers and highlighting scientific evidence. Through these multifaceted efforts, we aim to achieve our full-year targets. Now, turning to our overseas business. Today we have disclosed the preliminary sales volume data through September. From July to September, the average daily sales volume overseas exceeded the previous year by 0.5%, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth. We believe the overall decline has bottomed out and that we are now transitioning into a recovery phase, gradually improving performance going forward. Now I will explain the situation in our major countries. First, the US. The utilization rate at our first plant in California remains extremely high, approaching the limit of its supply capacity. Currently, the daily sales volume has increased to approximately 800,000 bottles, and until the second plant under construction in Georgia is completed, we expect levels to remain around the current volume. Therefore, it is difficult to pursue aggressive expansion of our sales channels at this stage. At present, we have product distribution in about 20,000 stores, effectively around 19,000, which represents only about 34% of all US supermarkets, well below half of the market. However, including smaller outlets such as convenience stores, we see the potential to expand distribution to over 100,000 stores across the country. The market potential is therefore considered very high. Once the second plant begins operations, we plan to first strengthen the supply system for existing products and then introduce new products. During this fiscal year, although in small quantities, we began air shipping Y1000 from Japan for sale in Hong Kong and Singapore. Customer response has been extremely favorable, confirming that there is demand for such products overseas. In the US market as well, we aim to introduce higher value-added products, such as those in Yakult 1000 series, at an early stage. Next, Mexico. Recently, sales volumes have temporarily declined, affected by a deterioration in consumer sentiment. To counter this, as part of our promotional measures, we have started rolling out flavor products that have proven successful in countries such as China. Since September, we began sales of Yakult Muscat flavor through retail store channels, followed by its introduction in the home delivery channel in October. We believe this new product will attract customer attention and encourage trial purchases, contributing to increased sales volume. Given that product awareness and understanding have steadily deepened since our market entry, we do not expect the sales stagnation to persist over the long term. Next, Vietnam. We revised prices across all sales channels in April and May, yet sales volumes have continued to post a single-digit growth rate in the high range. Thanks to the favorable performance of Yakult Lite, which was launched in April last year, sales remain at a high level, and this fiscal year's performance has successfully surpassed that high benchmark. There still exists significant potential for deeper market penetration through geographical expansion and increased sales per store. Most recently, a new monthly record of 1.5 million bottles was achieved last month, and we expect steady growth to continue. Next, China. Although consumer activity remains sluggish due to a downturn in the economic environment, our proactive sales measures have been yielding visible results. Sales from January to June this fiscal year increased 4.8% year-on-year, and results for July through September also exceeded the previous year by 5.2%, marking five consecutive quarters of year-on-year growth. The Yakult musket flavor launched in April contributed further to sales expansion. Additionally, to optimize our production structure and make more efficient use of management resources, we plan to close the Guangzhou No. 1 plant at the end of November. This initiative will improve the overall production utilization rate in China and enhance profitability through reductions in fixed costs. We will continue implementing both short-term and medium-to-long-term initiatives in parallel, continuously reviewing measures based on performance valuation to maintain effective operations. As for our current business network in China, including home delivery and retail distribution, we have a total of 74 bases, among which 61 have already exceeded last year's results by a wide margin. We therefore maintain strong expectations for further growth. Next, Indonesia. While results from January through June were below the previous year, performance from July through September exceeded last year by 3.2%, marking the first year-on-year increase in 14 quarters. The Yakult mango flavour, launched in June, also contributed to sales growth. We are currently taking a multifaceted approach that includes expanding supermarket distribution, running SMS-based campaigns, selling through e-commerce platforms, and launching new channels such as the school lunch market. In Indonesia, there are approximately 82.6 million elementary and junior high school students in the school lunch target audience. We began distributing products for school lunches in February this year, and by September, monthly deliveries had reached about 3 million bottles. We aim to further accelerate this initiative and continue building cumulative results. By steadily achieving quarterly sales growth above the previous year, we expect to reach a clear turning point toward recovery. That concludes the explanation of the H1 results and outlook for this fiscal year. Lastly, we will continue our proactive efforts to meet the expectations of all our stakeholders who support our company. We sincerely appreciate your continued guidance and encouragement. This concludes my remarks and presentation. Thank you very much for your kind attention. Based on the financial results briefing materials, I would like to explain the results for H1 of this fiscal year. On page 1, the key points of the consolidated results have already been mentioned at the beginning, which reflect the current situation as explained. Next, page 2 shows net sales through operating profit margin. Net sales decreased by 13.9 billion yen, operating profit by 8.4 billion yen, ordinary profit by 9 billion yen, and profit attributable to owners of the parent by 2.9 billion yen. During this H1, we were significantly affected by the stronger yen compared with the same period last year, and the impact from exchange rates is shown in parentheses. Page 3 shows the profit and loss details. We will discuss net sales and operating profit in the segments section later, so I will focus only on notable items here. On the right side, you can see a 2.1 billion yen gain on sales of investment securities, which is related to the sale of cross-share holdings. A special loss, labeled as impairment losses, is also recorded here. This corresponds to the asset impairment of the Guangzhou No. 1 plant that was disclosed in a release issued on October 20. Other than that, there are no particularly extraordinary factors. Next, page 4 presents key financial indicators. Total assets amounted to 817 billion yen, down 47.2 billion yen from the previous fiscal year end. This decrease reflects foreign exchange impacts, amounting to around 20 billion yen. The equity ratio increased by 2.4 percentage points from the previous fiscal year end to 68.8%. This temporary rise results from debt reduction due to the repayment of borrowings during the settlement months. Since borrowings are expected to increase again to fund group-wide investments, this should be viewed as a temporary factor, with the ratio expected to trend downward going forward. Page 5 shows the breakdown of total assets, listing major asset and liability items by account category. Cash and deposits decreased by ¥64 billion. The primary factor is the share buyback of 30 billion yen announced in the fourth quarter of the previous fiscal year, with 15 billion yen booked in the previous term and another 15 billion yen in the current term. The rest is dividends or repayment of loans. Also, the foreign exchange effect of approximately 9 billion yen also contributed to this decrease. Investment securities increased 9.4 billion yen due to higher unrealized gains, despite the sale of some cross-share holdings. These factors represent the primary drivers behind the changes in the financial position. Next, page 6 shows results by segment. Overall, net sales were 241.1 billion yen, down 13.9 billion yen. The Japan business declined by 5.1 billion yen, while overseas businesses in total decreased by 8 billion yen. The impact of foreign exchange amounted to 10.9 billion yen. In detail, of the 5.8 billion yen decline in the Americas, foreign exchange effects accounted for 7.2 billion yen, and Asia and Oceania was affected by 3.5 billion yen. Thus, overseas businesses were significantly impacted by currency fluctuations. First, regarding beverages in Japan, as mentioned earlier, the number of bottles sold per day decreased 7% year-on-year, resulting in a reduction in sales. The prolonged inflationary environment has led to negative real wages and a stronger-than-expected consumer savings mindset. In October this year, as well, prices of approximately 3,000 items were raised, which suggests that the recovery of consumer sentiment will take some more time. In addition, on the retail side, lower priced products from competitors have been introduced, affecting our sales. To mitigate the decline in Yakult 1000 series sales, we launched the low carb type through the home delivery channel in January and the retail store channels in April in response to customer demand. Our intent was to encourage former customers to resume purchases. However, in practice, many customers switched within the same category, leading to cannibalization. And as a result, we were unable to successfully recover those customers. This represents the primary factor behind the decline in domestic net sales. Next, the Americas. Overall, sales volume decreased by 1.5%. Sales volumes in the US and Brazil were maintained at similar levels to the previous year, but Mexico recorded a temporary downturn. Before the recent tariff issues, the Mexican economy had been performing well, but due to the impact of new tariffs, economic conditions softened, resulting in the 1.5% volume decline. Nevertheless, both Mexico and Brazil implemented price increases around January and February this year, which helped offset the reduced volumes through higher unit prices. The foreign exchange effect of 7.2 billion yen had a significant overall impact. Although not yet reflected in this fiscal period, Mexico saw the introduction of Yakult muscat flavor in September, and Brazil launched Yakult peach flavor in the same month. Both new products have sold well so far, and we expect their positive effects to appear in the next financial results. Next, Asia and Oceania. Net sales decreased by 2.1 billion yen, but foreign exchange had a 3.5 billion yen negative impact. In terms of volume, both China and Vietnam showed growth, and total sales volume increased by 1.2%, while Indonesia stayed at about 97% of the previous year, still affected by weak consumer demand due to inflation. In China, Yakult musket flavor was launched in April. and in indonesia yakult mango flavor began sales in june these numbers are only partially reflected in the current results next operating profit total operating profit was 25.3 billion yen down 8.4 billion yen japan decreased by 5.2 billion yen the americas by 2.5 billion yen and asia and oceania by 700 million yen Foreign exchange had a total negative impact of 1.8 billion yen in the Americas and 300 million yen in Asia and Oceania. One main reason for the decline in domestic operating profit was a roughly 400 million yen increase in raw material costs and about 600 million yen in higher labor expenses. Together with other increased costs, fixed costs became more difficult to absorb due to lower sales. this led to a slightly higher cost ratio and a reduction in overall profit in the americas a foreign exchange loss of one point eight billion yen was combined with an additional eight hundred million increase in raw material costs asia and oceania was affected by three hundred million yen Although sales volume itself has been increasing, in China and Indonesia, promotional expenses rose in preparation for the launches of the musket and mango flavors mentioned earlier, resulting in a slight decline in profit. These are the segmental results for net sales and operating profit. Next, page 10 presents the breakdown structure. Page 11 below shows the trends in sales volume by country for H1, as mentioned earlier. Please refer to it later. Page 12 displays the composition ratio of operating profit, which remained largely unchanged from the previous period. Page 13 summarizes the foreign exchange effects by segment. As shown, all figures reflect the impact of the yen appreciation, and the list aggregates the exchange rate effects for each segment. This concludes the summary of the H1 results. Next, page 14. As indicated, we have decided to revise our earnings forecast downward. We plan to reduce net sales by 5.5 billion yen, operating profit by 5 billion yen, and ordinary profit by 2.5 billion yen, while revising profit attributable to owners of the parent upward by 1 billion yen. The foreign exchange assumptions shown on page 15 indicate that there is no significant change from the previous forecast. Pages 16 onward present the comparison between the previous and current forecasts. For domestic beverages, net sales are expected to decrease by 4 billion yen. As mentioned earlier, the previous full-year daily average sales volume target was 9.43 million bottles, but considering the continued cautious spending behavior among consumers, this has been revised to 9.3 million bottles, a reduction of approximately 130,000 bottles for the year. In the Americas, the forecast was revised down by 2.3 billion yen, and in Asia and Oceania by 500 million yen. Although these are not large numbers, the economic environment remains somewhat weaker than initially expected. However, compared with the previous year, we expect Asia and Oceania to show improvement in H2. Taking these factors into account, we have revised both of the net sales and operating profit forecasts downward. Pages 18 and 19 show the comparison between the revised full-year forecasts and the previous fiscal year's actual results. Compared to the previous year, the stronger yen had a noticeable effect, as indicated in parentheses. 11.9 billion yen impact on net sales, 2.2 billion yen on operating profit, 2.9 billion yen on ordinary profit, and 1.7 billion yen on profit attributable to owners of the parent. This is a brief explanation, but I would like to conclude the explanation of the financial results.