Morinaga&Co (2201) Q4 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY2023 net sales reached a third consecutive record at ¥213.368bn; operating income rose 33.1% to ¥20.273bn and parent-attributable profit rose 50.6% to ¥15.154bn.

• Domestic and U.S. sales growth, along with price revisions, supported profitability despite soaring raw-material costs.

Financial highlights

• Gross profit increased 13.1% to ¥86.689bn; SG&A rose 8.1% to ¥66.416bn.

• Ordinary income increased 33.5% to ¥21.039bn; net income was ¥15.374bn and parent-attributable profit was ¥15.154bn.

• EBITDA was ¥29.7bn, versus ¥25.3bn in FY2022; defined as operating income plus depreciation and amortization.

• Operating cash flow was ¥30.174bn, versus an outflow of ¥2.966bn in FY2022; year-end cash and cash equivalents reached ¥47.101bn.

Outlook and guidance

• FY2024 forecast: sales ¥222.0bn (+4.0%), operating income ¥20.5bn (+1.1%), ordinary income ¥20.9bn (-0.7%) and parent-attributable profit ¥15.8bn (+4.3%).

• Forecast assumes ¥146 per U.S. dollar and incorporates raw-material, energy, FX and logistics headwinds, partly offset by sales growth and price revisions.

• FY2026 targets: sales ¥246.0bn, operating income ¥24.6bn, 10.0% operating margin, focused-domain sales ratio of at least 53% and overseas sales ratio of at least 16%.

• FY2030 targets: sales of at least ¥300.0bn, operating margin of at least 12%, focused-domain sales ratio of at least 60%, overseas sales ratio of at least 25%, ROE of at least 15% and ROIC of at least 12%.