NTT DATA Group (9613) Q4 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY2024 net sales rose 25.1% to ¥4,367.4B and operating profit rose 19.5% to ¥309.6B; profit attributable to shareholders fell 10.7% to ¥133.9B.

• Growth reflected Japan and Europe business expansion, expanded consolidation of NTT Ltd. and FX; higher taxes and financial expenses weighed on attributable profit.

• FY2025 guidance calls for higher sales, operating profit, attributable profit and dividend per share, despite forecast yen appreciation.

Financial highlights

• Gross profit was ¥1,195.0B, up 29.6%; SG&A was ¥885.4B, up 33.5%; operating margin was 7.1%, down 0.3 percentage points.

• Profit before tax increased 2.4% to ¥248.6B; finance income and costs / equity-method results moved to a ¥60.9B expense from ¥16.3B.

• EBITDA reached ¥591.4B in FY2024; FY2025 forecast is ¥640.0B.

• New orders received rose 75.8% to ¥4,790.9B, including NTT Ltd. from FY2024; order backlog increased 25.9% to ¥5,859.6B.

Outlook and guidance

• FY2025 net sales forecast ¥4,430.0B (+1.4%), operating profit ¥336.0B (+8.5%; margin 7.6%) and attributable profit ¥137.0B (+2.3%).

• Sales are expected to grow by more than 4% excluding FX; operating profit growth reflects sales expansion and absence of structural transformation costs, partly offset by higher overseas business-combination costs.

• FY2025 annual dividend forecast is ¥25 per share, up ¥2; new orders forecast is ¥4,330.0B excluding data-center business, versus FY2024 including ¥791.0B of data-center orders.

• FY2025 forecast FX rates are ¥138/$ and ¥150/€; each ¥1 move affects sales by approximately ±¥11B for USD and ±¥8B for EUR, and EBITA by ±¥0.7B and ±¥0.6B, respectively.