Persol (2181) Q1 2027 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Revenue rose 13.5% year-over-year to 424.0 billion yen, driven by the Gojob acquisition and favorable foreign exchange effects, with both revenue and profit exceeding forecasts.

• Adjusted EBITDA increased 21.6% year-over-year to 26.4 billion yen, mainly due to improved profitability in Staffing and Asia Pacific SBUs.

• Operating profit grew 22.6% year-over-year to 18.88 billion yen; net profit attributable to owners rose 14.3% to 12.19 billion yen.

• AI strategy is central, leveraging proprietary data and Gojob’s AI-native HR model to drive talent mobility and productivity.

• AI investments of 19.0 billion yen are expected to yield 33.0–43.0 billion yen in returns over FY2026–FY2028.

Financial highlights

• Gross profit for the quarter was 95.2 billion yen, up from 88.5 billion yen year-over-year.

• Adjusted EPS increased 15.8% year-over-year to 6.67 yen; basic EPS rose to 5.54 yen from 4.86 yen.

• Adjusted profit reached 14.88 billion yen, up from 12.78 billion yen year-over-year.

• Comprehensive income attributable to owners was 14.54 billion yen, up from 11.42 billion yen year-over-year.

• Gojob contributed 12.2 billion yen to revenue; foreign exchange effects added 23.3 billion yen.

Outlook and guidance

• Progress rates for revenue, operating profit, and adjusted EBITDA are all above 25% of full-year forecasts after Q1.

• Full-year revenue forecast for FY2027 is 1,665.0 billion yen, a 7.0% increase year-over-year.

• Full-year profit attributable to owners is projected at 44.5 billion yen, up 4.2% year-over-year.

• Adjusted EBITDA for the full year is forecast at 97.0 billion yen, a 10.0% increase year-over-year.

• Dividend forecast for FY2027 is 13.00 yen per share, unchanged from the previous announcement.