Weathernews (4825) Q3 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• 9M FY2024 net sales rose 5.4% YoY to ¥16,658M; operating profit fell 8.9% to ¥2,287M amid higher personnel and cloud costs and one-time expenses.

• Mobile/internet, Sea and Land contributed to sales growth; FY2024 guidance remained unchanged at ¥22,500M net sales and ¥3,500M operating profit.

Financial highlights

• 9M gross profit was ¥7,121M, versus ¥6,980M a year earlier; ordinary profit fell 9.3% to ¥2,337M and profit attributable to owners of parent fell 3.0% to ¥1,749M.

• Basic EPS was ¥158.51, versus ¥163.77 a year earlier; lower income taxes, including deferred tax benefits tied to a mandatory retirement system, helped limit the net-profit decline.

• Q3 net sales increased 3.6% YoY to ¥5,507M, while operating profit declined 17.3% to ¥1,024M.

Outlook and guidance

• FY2024 forecast remained unchanged: net sales ¥22,500M, operating profit and ordinary profit ¥3,500M each, and profit attributable to owners of parent ¥2,500M.

• Growth plans focus on mobile/internet subscriptions and advertising, Land and Environment planning, and SaaS expansion; overseas talent, data and cloud investment is planned.

• Risks to the forecast include slower mobile-carrier subscription sales, flexible advertising spend and unplanned one-time costs; FX and global conditions will be monitored.