Yakult Honsha Co.,Ltd. (TYO:2267)
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Sep 16, 2026, 3:30 PM JST
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Earnings Call: Q1 2026

Jul 29, 2025

Summary

Sales and profit declined year-over-year due to lower domestic dairy sales and yen appreciation, which also led to a downward revision of the full-year forecast. Overseas volume growth was offset by currency headwinds, while cost pressures persisted.

Ikuhiro Okada
General Manager in Finance and Accounting Department, Yakult Honsha

I will start by explaining the consolidated results for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2026, and our revised full-year forecast. The details are based on the executive summary for the first quarter of the FY 2025, which is available on the website under IR Library in the financial results. For detailed figures, please refer to the financial results and supplementary material, also available on our website. First, on page one, this will be the general outline of the consolidated results for the first quarter. Overall, the consolidated sales and profit decreased. Following are the highlights by segment. In the domestic food and beverage segment, sales of dairy products decreased due to a decline in sales volume, resulting in lower sales and profit.

In the overseas food and beverage segment, sales volume increased in all regions, but the strong yen had a significant impact, resulting in lower sales and profit. Next, on page two is the consolidated financial results. Net sales decreased by JPY 6 billion from the previous year to JPY 116.5 billion. Operating profit decreased by JPY 5.1 billion to JPY 10.9 billion. Ordinary profit decreased by JPY 5 billion to JPY 17.1 billion, and net profit decreased by JPY 2.4 billion to JPY 11.5 billion. Additionally, the impact of foreign exchange rates, as indicated in blue, was negative due to the appreciation of the yen. Please note that as indicated by the asterisks, we have revised the forecast figures for the current fiscal year, which we announced in May. The revised figures for the first half are shown in the right-hand block on this page.

For details, please refer to page five of the financial results. Regarding the full-year forecast, we will provide further details using slides later in the presentation. Next, please turn to page three for the consolidated income statement. Details regarding sales and operating income will be explained later by segment. Raw material costs in the first quarter increased by JPY 300 million, both domestically and internationally. Next, regarding the status of non-operating income and expenses and extraordinary gains and losses. As you can see, there was no significant changes compared to the previous year, excuse me. Additionally, extraordinary income of JPY 1.4 billion was recorded from the sale of investment securities, which resulted from the partial sale of policy held shares by the headquarters. Next, page four, we have the consolidated financial results.

Total assets decreased by JPY 31.7 billion from the end of the previous fiscal year to JPY 832.5 billion. Net assets decreased by JPY 30.1 billion to JPY 599.3 billion. As with the income statement, there was an impact coming from foreign exchange as the yen appreciated, resulting in a negative impact of approximately JPY 22 billion on total assets. Page five is a consolidated balance sheet. On the left, in assets, cash and deposits decreased by JPY 31.4 billion to JPY 237.5 billion. Total net assets also decreased by JPY 30.1 billion. The main factors contributing to these decreases include share buybacks and dividend payments since we have conducted since April, as well as the impact of yen appreciation.

Additionally, although it does not affect the increase or decrease in total net assets, approximately 10.1 million shares acquired between February and June were canceled from the treasury stock as of the end of June. For further details, please refer to page 10 of the financial results.

Let us move on to page six and seven. Here, we show year-on-year comparisons of net sales by segment. Page six presents them in a table. Page seven visualizes them in graphs. As you can see, due in part to the impact of the stronger yen, overall sales decreased by JPY 6 billion. Now, I will elaborate more by segment. First, in food and beverages in Japan, the number of bottles sold per day or daily sales volume for dairy products decreased by about 7% overall, due mainly to a decline in the number of existing customers. As for the Yakult 1000 series, following the launch of the low-carbo Toshitsu Off products for home delivery channel nationwide in January, we started retail store sales in April.

However, we were not able to acquire as many new customers as planned, and with the loss of some existing customers, the sales volume of the series declined. As a result, net sales decreased by JPY 2.9 billion to JPY 59.6 billion. Next, overseas food and beverages. In the Americas, although daily sales volumes in each country matched or exceeded the previous year level and price hikes had a positive impact, the negative impact of Forex was significant at JPY 3.3 billion, resulting in a JPY 1.9 billion decrease in the segment sales to JPY 21.6 billion. Next, Asia and Oceania region. Here too, the stronger yen had an impact, but daily sales volume in Vietnam grew by 13%, continuing double-digit growth. China and Guangzhou also saw a year-on-year increase in daily sales volume.

Overall, Asia saw a 2% increase in daily sales volume and a JPY 100 million increase in net sales to JPY 29.4 billion. In Europe, daily sales volume increased by 4.2% year-on-year, resulting in a slight increase to JPY 3.2 billion in sales. Finally, other business. This segment includes pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and the baseball team. In pharmaceuticals, we transferred cancer-related prescription drug sales to Takata Pharmaceutical in the previous period. But since the main product, Elplat, was transferred in mid-May, the segment's net sales decreased by JPY 1.4 billion to JPY 5.7 billion. So far, I've explained the segment breakdown of the net sales. Page eight and nine show year-on-year comparison of operating profit by segment. Page eight presents the numbers in a table, and page nine presents them in graphs. As you may see, consolidated operating profit decreased by JPY 5.1 billion. Let me explain by segment.

First, food and beverages in Japan. In addition to lower gross profit due to decreased sales, higher raw material costs and increased expenses such as labor cost, resulted in a JPY 3.8 billion decrease in operating profit to JPY 8.7 billion. Up to the first quarter of the previous year, the performance of dairy products remained at a relatively high level. In this first quarter, the year-on-year decline in net sales and operating profit became large. Next, overseas food and beverages. In the Americas, although price hikes improved gross profit, higher raw material costs increased expenses and a JPY 800 million negative impact from Forex resulted in a JPY 800 million decrease in operating profit to JPY 6.3 billion.

In Asia and Oceania region, although gross profit increased due to higher sales volumes and cost decreased due to the closure of the Shanghai plant, promotional costs and other expenses increased, particularly in China, resulting in a JPY 300 million decrease in this region's profit to JPY 1.2 billion. Including Europe, the total overseas segment saw a JPY 900 million decrease in operating profit to JPY 7.6 billion. Finally, other business. While the pharmaceutical business saw a decrease in net sales, cost reductions prevented a decline in operating profit. However, the number of home games organized by the baseball team in the first quarter was lower than the previous year, resulting in a JPY 200 million decrease in this segment's operating profit. That concludes the segment breakdown for operating profit.

Next, going to page 10. This shows the breakdown of sales by segment in pie charts. There are no significant changes. Page 11 shows the actual daily average sales volume of dairy products by country. The consolidated total was 28.14 million bottles, 98.7% of the previous period. By region, overseas sales exceeded 100% in all three regions from the previous period. In all regions, most of the major business sites with the sales of more than 1 million bottles also exceeded the previous year's figures. Page 12 shows the breakdown of operating income by segment in pie charts. At the beverage and food domestic segment, we saw a relatively large decline in income, decreased its share, while overseas, mainly in Americas, increased its share. Going to page 13. This summarizes the impact of foreign exchange rates on the consolidated income statement for the current period.

The graph on the left compares exchange rates for the previous period with those of the current period. It shows the rate of change based on the previous period's exchange rate set at 100. Most major business locations experienced yen appreciation, particularly in Mexico and Brazil, where yen appreciation exceeded double digits. For the impact on each segment, please refer to the table on the right. This has been the summary of the consolidated financial results for the first quarter of FY 2025. Now, I will explain the revision of the consolidated results forecast for FY 2025. We are revising downward the performance forecast announced in May, primarily due to a revision of the daily sales volume plan for dairy products in the domestic food and beverage segment.

The impact of rising prices has impacted consumer spending in negative manner and has led to a sales performance for dairy products fall short of the initial plan. On the other hand, overseas food and beverage business are progressing smoothly overall in line with the initial plan, but we have made exchange rate adjustments. Let me explain the details. First, on page 14, we have provided an overview of the consolidated earnings forecast compared to the initial forecast. Compared to the forecast announced in May, revenue has revised downwards by JPY 11 billion to JPY 295 billion, operating profit by JPY 5 billion to JPY 53.5 billion. Ordinary profit by JPY 5 billion to JPY 69.5 billion, and net profit by JPY 3.5 billion to JPY 45.5 billion. The impact of foreign exchange rates is shown in blue, but details are provided on the next page 15.

Page 15 shows the impact of the adjusted exchange rate on the P&L of the revised plan. When we announced our forecast in May, we used the average exchange rate for January to March 2025, but this time we used the average exchange rate for January to June 2025. The yen has appreciated further against many major currencies, and the impact on each segment is shown in the table on the right.

Page 16 shows the forecasted net sales by segment, and page 17 shows the forecasted operating profit by segment. Please refer to these pages together. First, food and beverages in Japan. In the May announcement, we had estimated the sales volume of the Yakult 1000 series for the year at 2.1 million bottles per day, but the actual volume after June was 1.91 million bottles per day. The Y1000 series for retail store sales also performed slightly below plan, so we have revised the daily sales volume assumptions for each. The revised daily sales volume for Yakult 1000 is 1.95 million bottles per day, and Y1000 is 1.17 million bottles per day.

That is a total of 3.12 million bottles per day for the series, which is a 3.7% year-on-year increase. For other dairy products, daily sales volume assumptions have been revised, with total dairy product sales now forecast at 9.43 million bottles per day, a decrease of 370,000 bottles. In line with the reduced sales, we have also revised operating profit downward by JPY 4.5 billion. From the second quarter onwards, we will strive to recover performance and carefully review expense usage to aim for increased profit. Next, overseas food and beverages. As mentioned earlier, due to the exchange rate revision, we have lowered sales by JPY 2.5 billion and operating profit by JPY 500 million. As mentioned earlier, since overseas operations have been progressing in line with the initial plan, we have made revisions only for the Forex exchange rates for overseas business.

Pages 18- 21 compare the revised forecast with the previous year. I will briefly explain these year-on-year comparisons. Page 18 is an overview of P&L. With this downward revision, net sales and all levels of profit are expected to decrease compared to the previous year. Page 19 shows the impact of exchange rates. The yen has strengthened against all major currencies, resulting in a significant negative effect of JPY 14.6 billion on net sales and JPY 3 billion on operating profit. Next, page 20 shows net sales by segment. Food and beverages in Japan are expected to see increased sales due to higher sales volumes of the 1000 series. Overseas sales, however, are expected to decrease, mainly due to the negative impact of exchange rates. Page 21 shows operating profit by segment.

Food and beverages in Japan are expected to see decreased profit due to higher costs, such as raw materials and labor. On the other hand, overseas food and beverages are expected to see increased profit, as gross profit from higher daily sales volumes of dairy products is expected to offset increased expenses and the negative impact of exchange rates. This concludes the explanation of the consolidated financial results for the first quarter and the full-year forecast for the fiscal year ending in March 2026.