Weathernews (4825) Q4 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY2024 net sales rose 5.3% YoY to ¥22,242M; operating profit increased 0.4% to ¥3,270M, while parent-attributable profit rose 1.7% to ¥2,437M.

• App-user growth, advertising gains, and stronger BtoB businesses supported sales; earnings included higher costs and weather-radar disposal and valuation losses.

• FY2025 guidance targets net sales of ¥23,500M and operating profit of ¥3,800M, with growth priorities including SaaS, mobile, and overseas services.

Financial highlights

• FY2024 ordinary profit was ¥3,341M, up 1.7% YoY; comprehensive income was ¥2,571M.

• Q4 net sales rose 5.2% YoY to ¥5,584M; operating profit increased 31.8% to ¥983M, with a 17.6% margin, up 3.6 points.

• Total assets increased ¥2,079M YoY to ¥23,058M; total net assets rose ¥1,388M to ¥19,788M.

• Gross profit was ¥9,411M versus ¥8,964M; SG&A was ¥6,140M versus ¥5,708M.

Outlook and guidance

• FY2025 forecast: sales ¥23,500M (+5.7%), operating profit ¥3,800M (+16.2%), ordinary profit ¥3,800M (+13.7%), and parent-attributable profit ¥2,700M (+10.8%).

• Forecast operating margin is 16.2%, up 1.5 points; basic EPS is ¥244.24, and ROE is 13.3%, up 0.5 point.

• FY2025 domain sales forecast: Sea ¥6,000M, Sky ¥1,260M, Land ¥6,740M, and Internet ¥8,700M.

• Growth plans include app subscriptions and advertising, European maritime routing, and SaaS expansion across Land, Environment, and Climate Tech; investment will support overseas sales, data, cloud, and weather-data acquisition.