Latest Results

Latest Financial Announcements

• Financial Results Briefing for the First Half of the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2024

Financial Announcements for the Current Term

• Financial Results Briefing for the First Quarter of the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2024

Trends in the Past Three Fiscal Years and the Current Fiscal Year

*Numbers for the full year of the term ending March 2024 are forecasts announced on November 10th, 2023.

Overview of Consolidated Financial Results for the Second Quarter of the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2024

Effective from the first quarter of the consolidated fiscal year under review, the Company has changed the classifications and names of its reporting segments as follows.
「VCCS（Vehicle Communication Comfort & Safety）」:
Former 「Vehicle Communication Equipment」-「Platform Business」
「CTC(Circuit Testing Connector)」: Former 「Circuit Testing Connector」
「FC（Fine Connector） / MD（Medical Device）」:
Former 「Personal Communication Equipment」-「Advanced Devices Business」
「Incubation Center」:「Platform Business」+「Advanced Device Business」

Net sales in the first half of the consolidated fiscal year under review amounted to ¥36,794 million, a decrease of 8.5% year-on-year, reflecting increased year-on-year sales in VCCS segment, despite decreased year-on-year sales in both CTC and FC・MD segment.
The Company reported an operating loss of ¥120 million (a gain of ¥3,507 million in the previous fiscal year), reflecting a loss in CTC and FC・MD segment as a result of decreased sales and a loss in Incubation Center segment, which is focused on new business, although VCCS segment profitability had been improved.
Ordinary profit decreased by 74.0% year-on-year, to ¥1,701 million, reflecting an exchange gain of ¥1,895 million attributable to the weakening of the yen. Profit attributable to owners of the parent decreased by 77.1% year-on-year, to ¥958 million reflecting due to a loss in ordinary profit and ¥274 million in other extraordinary losses including the expense for business reform.

Overview of Financial Results for Each Segments and Explanation of Consolidated Results Forecast

VCCS (Core product: Antenna for Vehicle)

In the automotive market, the main market for this segment, sales are improving trend as the global shortages of semiconductors and component supply stagnation eased gradually. A breakdown by region shows that the number of units sold in the United States, China, and the Japanese market increased.
In these circumstances, mainstay products for automobile manufacturers, such as shark fin antennas and GPS antennas, achieved high sales in overseas by the weakening of the yen and increasing production of automobile manufacturers.
As a result, sales for this segment increased year-on-year, to ¥26,491 million (up 20.5% year-on-year). The segment reported a profit of ¥717 million (a loss of ¥1,287 million in the previous fiscal year), due to increased profit associated with an increase in sales and decreased physical distribution costs by low ocean freight rates, despite high labor costs at production bases in China and Vietnam associated with the strengthening of the local currencies.

CTC (Core Product: Semiconductor Testing Socket and Probe Card)

In the semiconductor testing market, demands for PCs and smartphones continued to decline compared with the previous year, moreover stagnant demand for servers has been prolonged due to inventory adjustments by semiconductor manufacturers and curbs on capital investment.
In these circumstances, sales of jigs for semiconductor back-end testing, the mainstay product of the Group, decreased year-on-year, due to a decrease in orders for logic semiconductor testing sockets. Sales of jigs for semiconductor front-end testing decreased year-on-year because of lower sales in both the turnkey business which offers one-stop solutions services including peripheral devices and MEMS probe cards (YPX) for high-frequency electronics components testing.
As a result, sales for this segment decreased year-on-year, to ¥6,188 million (down 52.6% year-on-year). The segment reported a loss of ¥461 million (a gain of ¥4,388 million in the previous fiscal year), reflecting decreased profit associated with a decrease in sales and an increase in fixed costs reflecting actions to support future semiconductor miniaturization and R&D investment in improved production efficiency.

FC (Core Product: Fine spring connector for electronics) ・MD (Core Product: Medical devices and units)

In the market for mobile communication terminals, a key market for this segment, sales of wearable terminals are expected to grow given their diversification and greater sophistication. However, unit shipments of smartphones were on a downward trend due to the economic downturn. Demand for POS terminals was slugged down, although the POS terminal market had been growing steadily in a wide range of industries, including those engaging in logistics and manufacturing, with a view toward improvements in operational efficiency through information management.
In these circumstances, net sales for the FC business, for which fine spring connectors act as core products, decreased year-on-year, reflecting a decrease in sales of POS terminals, and a decrease in sales of a product for wearable devices, such as wireless earbuds, due to customer's production adjustment.
In MD business, sales increase year-on-year due to strong sales of catheter components for a major domestic medical device manufacturer which is a major customer.
As a result, sales for this segment decreased year-on-year, to 3,903 million (down 21.7% year-on-year). The segment posted a loss of ¥46 million (a gain of ¥655 million in the previous fiscal year) chiefly owing to decreased profit associated with a decrease in sales in FC business.

Incubation Center (Core Product: Antenna and providing solutions for MaaS/IoT)

The Company has been engaged in full-scale business development efforts, aiming to create new businesses and innovate business models for new growth markets such as MaaS, and IoT as well as the optical communication market for higher-speed and larger-capacity communication. Due to organizational changes implemented during the first quarter of the consolidated fiscal year under review, development in these new business fields was split off from existing operating departments and classified under the Incubation Center as a new reporting segment comprising the Platform Business and Advanced Device Business. The MaaS/IoT market, which is a key market for this segment, is expected to grow steadily, reflecting the advance of mobility including car sharing, and the widespread adoption of IoT connecting everything through the Internet.
In these circumstances, the Platform Business has made progress in expanding sales of MIMO antennas utilizing smart antenna technologies for IoT, and vehicle key management solutions for MaaS and rental cars. For the Advanced Device Business, which includes the segment, the Company has developed systems for the mass production of optical connector products utilizing photoelectric conversion device technologies for the optical communications market.
As a result, sales for this segment increased year-on-year, to 207 million (up 14.3% year-on-year). The segment posted a loss of ¥337 million (a loss of ¥255 million in the previous fiscal year), because the segmentwhich is in the early stages of its development, generates sales at a small scale and involves up-front investment.

Future Outlook

The following are our assumptions for the results forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024.
・In the automobile market, the main market for the Company, sales and production are expected to recover because the global shortages of semiconductor eased gradually and a full-scale recovery in production at automobile manufacturers.
・In the semiconductor testing market, the downturn that developed from the second half of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023 is expected to continue until the end of this fiscal year, with a gradual recovery in the next fiscal year.
・In the market for mobile communication terminals, the growth of POS terminals and other electronic terminals is expected to stagnate throughout the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024 due to the global economic downturn.
・In the advanced medical equipment market, demand for minimally invasive medical procedures using catheters and similar products is expected to grow steadily.
・In the MaaS/IoT market, steady growth is expected, reflecting the advance of mobility solutions and widespread adoption of IoT.

Based on those assumptions, the company revised the full-year sales forecasts for the entire Group and each segment as shown in the table above in consideration of the results in the first half and the latest forecast of orders.
Our forecast for operating profit is shown in the table above. This reflects decreased profits in associated with a decrease in sales of CTC segment and decreased profits in FC・MD segment caused by a decreased ratio of high-margin FC business in this segment, despite increased year-on-year sales of VCCS segment due to improving profitability by business structure reform and decreased physical distribution costs.
Our forecasts for ordinary profit and profit attributable to owners of parent are as shown in the table above, which incorporate a foreign exchange gain of ¥1,200 million under an exchange rate of ¥145 against US$.