We would like to begin a meeting for LY Corporation's business results for the Q2 fiscal 2023. Thank you for your participation today. In this presentation, we are going to use a presentation material that you'll find on LY Corporation's website. Today, representing LY Corporation, we have with us President and Representative Director, CEO, Mr. Takeshi Idezawa. Executive Corporate Officer, CFO, Mr. Ryosuke Sakaue. Executive Corporate Officer, Commerce Company CEO, Mr. Makoto Hide. Executive Corporate Officer, Media Company CEO, Mr. Hiroshi Kataoka, and Executive Corporate Officer, Marketing Solution Company CEO, Mr. Yuki Ikehata. First, Mr. Idezawa will explain business results for Q2 fiscal year 2023. That will be followed by a Q&A session. This session is scheduled for about one hour. This is also live streamed.
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This is Idezawa from LY Corporation. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedules to join us in the business results briefing for Q2 of FY 2023, ending in March 2024. I will present the overview. This is our first results meeting as a company, and I would like to start with the Q2 business results. From here, I would like to follow the agenda, please. First, is the consolidated business results for the entire group. I'm sorry, I skipped some of the pages. I would like to start with the FY 2023 Q2 business results topics. Revenue and adjusted EBITDA both reached record highs for the Q2.
Media business increased both revenue and income through a gradual recovery of advertising business and the LINE Official Accounts growth of over 20%, enabled partly by rate revision. Commerce business increased both revenue and income, with shopping business continuing to show signs of improvement and travel business recording double-digit growth. Strategic business achieved a positive quarterly Adjusted EBITDA for the first time, thanks to the selective focus on key businesses we have promoted since the beginning of previous year. With the addition of LINE and the Yahoo! Japan account linkage already starting in October and LYP Premium starting in November, we will continue to promote cross-use between services. We will aim for further growth through new initiatives, such as the renewable lineup. From here, I will present the items on the agenda one by one. First, is consolidated business results for the entire group.
Both revenue and adjusted EBITDA grew by double digits year-on-year. Revenue growth was attributable to, mainly to, consolidation by PayPay and the increase of media business revenue. Adjusted EBITDA increased by more than 25%, thanks to cost optimization and select focus on key business areas, especially strategic business. Adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 23.4%. The following slide shows variance analysis of adjusted EBITDA. Gross profit improved year-on-year, mainly driven by LINE media business as well as travel business. Adjusted EBITDA increased year-on-year as a result of selective focus on key business areas and fixed cost reduction beyond what was expected. This is variance analysis in operating income. Operating income grew 14% year-on-year due to growth in adjusted EBITDA.
Others, in the previous year, we had the LINE Music conversion into a consolidated subsidiary; therefore, others and adjustments is down year-on-year. This is variance analysis in Adjusted Net Income. Equity in losses of associates and joint ventures continued to improve in Q2 due to business growth and cost optimization. As a one-time factor, the recognition of a tax benefit from the merger, due to a significant decrease in corporate income tax payment, resulting in an increase in Adjusted Net Income of approximately 6.1 times year-on-year. Here is the consolidated full-year guidance for FY 2023. The progress as of the end of Q2 is 55% vis-à-vis Adjusted EBITDA target for the entire group.
The results remained around the guidance level due to the continued uncertainty in the market and the continued focus on measures to promote the cross-use, including account linkage, during the second half of the year. Due to the merger, LY Corporation is applying revised cost allocation rules starting in Q3, Q3, allocating corporate admin and HR expenses, and the system expenses previously booked in other than adjustments to respective business segment. Next page, please. Let me explain the results and topics by segment. First is media business. In Q2, recovery of advertising sales, mainly from growth in account advertising and the consolidation of LINE Music, supported a year-on-year growth and revenue. As for adjusted EBITDA,
an improvement in gross profit due to higher sales and a tight control over SG&A expenses through cost optimization measures resulted in revenue growth of 11.3%. As a result, adjusted EBITDA margin was 40%. Next page is total advertising revenue for the group. Despite the slowdown of search advertising, the negative growth rate of display and advertising was reduced. In addition, due to cost optimization of the commerce business, shopping-related ads gradually improved after a continuous decline for some time. As a result, the overall growth rate, including shopping ads, also turned positive year-on-year. Next is breakdown of search advertising revenue.
About 80% to 85% of our search and revenue, search ad revenue, is from search ads of LY Corporation services, which is shown as LY Corporation's websites, while the revenue from search ads distributed to our partner sites is shown as partners' websites. Revenue from partners' websites is declining, while revenue from LY Corporation's websites has grown year-on-year. Next page shows account advertising. The number of paid accounts has increased steadily. Functional enhancements are being implemented on an ongoing basis. To enhance monetization, we are offering a membership function that allows users to create a paid membership plan on their official LINE account. In addition, using generative AI to automatically generate a response to user inquiries, we are planning to launch a new function in FY 2023. We have already completed the preparation.
We will continue to enhance functionality and improve operational efficiency to steadily grow LINE Official Account. Next page shows commerce business performance. Revenue grew year-on-year due to improvement in e-commerce transaction value. Adjusted EBITDA grew 16.9% year-on-year, as we continued to reduce sales promotion expenses in Yahoo! Japan Shopping and LINE e-commerce. Next page shows e-commerce transaction value. Growth in domestic merchandise was down 0.7% year-on-year, due to continued reduction of sales promotion expenses, but it is on an improving, improving trend. The total growth rate has turned positive at 0.4%. Next page shows domestic e-commerce transaction value. Domestic shopping transaction value was down 5.5% year-on-year, while the QOQ growth rate continued to improve and remained in line with expectations.
Domestic service transaction value was impacted by the fading effect of reopening, while travel remained strong with double-digit growth. We have been asked about the synergies between ZOZO and ASKUL, so let me explain it once again. LINE, sorry, LY Corporation's user base and technical capabilities contributed to the growth of ZOZO and ASKUL. ZOZO opened a store in PayPay Mall in December 2019, and accessed the LINE Japan's broad customer base, which helped expanding its merchandise transaction value. ASKUL's B2C business returned to profitability FY 2023, partly helped by the migration of LOHACO main store system to Yahoo! Japan's system infrastructure. Both companies also contributed to the LY Corporation's ecosystem.
For example, the average number of orders from Yahoo! Japan is about three times higher for those who are the ZOZOTOWN Yahoo! Japan store, and about four times higher for those who use the LOHACO or Yahoo! Japan store compared to general users. Next, performance of strategic business for Q2, adjusted EBITDA turned positive for the first time as a result of selectively focusing on key business areas. Revenue growth strategically, YOY, are mainly due to the growth of PayPay and PayPay cards. Adjusted EBITDA is improving steadily, partly due to improved profitability of PayPay. Going forward, in addition to PayPay growth, we will continue to optimize cost and reduce revenue loss-making, review, loss-making businesses in order to improve profitability and revenue growth. Here is the overview of PayPay business.
Consolidated GMV was flat on Q-o-Q and up more than 20% year-on-year. Consolidated EBITDA was positive again in the Q2. In addition to the increase in the number of registered users, the number of payments is also increasing steadily, supporting continued growth. There are PayPay Card major KPIs. Synergies with PayPay continued to drive double-digit growth in the number of active cardholders. Transaction volume was up 31.8% year-on-year. Revolving balance also continued to expand, growing strongly by 56.4% year-on-year. Next page shows PayPay Bank's major KPIs. PayPay Bank also had synergy with PayPay. Each KPI is steadily expanding. The number of accounts has maintained double-digit growth due to the acquisition of accounts through PayPay Mini Apps.
Loan balance grew 30.5% year-on-year, thanks to the sales promotions of housing loans and the business loans. Next page. I'd like to talk about initiatives in the future. In April, we presented a management policy for FY 2023. We made steady progress since then in streamlining our business, which is reflected in the income numbers, as I, we speak, spoke earlier. So what I would like to present today is the future initiatives for the regrowth of business further in FY 2024 and beyond. The slide illustrates the overall strategy of LY Corporation Group. We will leverage the group assets, promote cross-use among services, and reinforce our businesses with focus on highly profitable search and media businesses. Today, I would like to explain some of our key initiatives with a particular focus on cross-use, search, commerce, and finance. Next page.
First is cross-use. Next page, please.
Now, about cross-use, needless to say, we will further reinforce linkages among LINE, Yahoo! Japan, PayPay, and while promoting cross-use today as an important concrete measure, we will explain about account linkage, LYP Premium, and LINE Renewal. So these are the three that we are going to explain today. First, about the first point, account linkage. From October, we started linking LINE and Yahoo! Japan accounts. As of yesterday, November 6th, the actual number of links was 90,480,000, which is progressing smoothly and exceeding expectations. By linking accounts, we can expect to expand cross-use of services and increase ad revenue. Please note that LINE and PayPay account linkage is scheduled for fiscal 2024.
We will promote the use of PayPay by LINE users. Next is the second measure, LYP Premium. LYP Premium is the premium membership plan by the new integrated company. It's scheduled for release on November 29. The monthly fee is JPY 580, the same as the current Yahoo Premium. In addition to the existing Yahoo Premium benefits, new LINE benefits will be added. We aim to acquire new members by adding new benefits and expand the use of LY Corporation group services. The next point is the third major LINE renewal. Today, these are some examples. We are still considering this, so there is a possibility of this to be changed.
Now, this is a major renewal, and with this renewal, we are preparing to further encourage users to visit various sites for them to use search and commerce more. There are three major changes. At the extreme left, you see the Home Tab. This has been redesigned into a portal where news and content are gathered. In order to attract more LINE users to search, this is going to be a very convenient place. On the second from the right, this is a Shopping Tab, and this is to be newly established for all commerce and shopping. This will be an easy-to-use UI that anyone can use. We will provide a purchasing experience, beginning with the Messenger app.
On the extreme right, we have the Place Tab, local information, and mapping information are to be gathered here. The up-to-date information about the information that customers are looking for will be provided. This will allow users to use maps and reservations seamlessly. Through this major renewal, we will aim at improving the convenience of LINE and strengthening attracting users to important services within the group. Next is Search. Next page, please. Search is the gateway to the internet, and the growth of Search leads to growth in all domains. Now, I'd like to explain two important points to strengthen in order to grow Search in the period ahead. The first is to strengthen Search traffic. Approximately 80% of Yahoo Search users go through Yahoo's top page.
So we are taking measures about the Yahoo top page through which the search comes in. Specifically, to make users want to use the Yahoo app on a daily basis, we enriched weather and sports information, and as a result, the Yahoo on the Yahoo app grew by 5.6% year-on-year in the Q2. Next is the second enhancement point. The key query domains for Search are commerce, local, and knowledge. These three domains account for over 50% of search queries and over 70% of search revenue from these three domains. We will improve the satisfaction level of the search experience in these three domains. We believe this is very important. Next page, please.
So specifically, on the left-hand side, these are the measures that we took in the first half. Now, Yahoo Search is available from within LINE app, contributing to an increase in the number of searches. In the middle, in the local domain, we have improved the UI/UX of restaurant search to improve convenience. And, in the knowledge domain, we are enriching celebrity profiles. We are working to improve the search experience for our users. In the second half, we will strengthen our commerce domain by providing shopping search ads. So, on the right-hand side, we're going to provide for the first time, when commerce search is made, the ability to display products at the top of the commerce search module has a high appeal effect.
So in the second half, we are scheduled to start provision of this. And in the gray on the right, there is a product information site that started in April 2023. Again, the external advertisers product information, the we actually started in April 2023 by offering a cost per acquisition type product. So, this way, we would like to increase the number of searches and also in key query domains, we would like to strengthen the enhance the search. Next page. And, now, the search and AI are very important combination. First, to use generative AI for search. We started testing the search experience using chatbot UI in October. On the right-hand side, on Yahoo!
Chiebukuro, both humans and generative AI answer questions. This is a new place to share knowledge. This is to start to be provided in November 2023. Next page. Next is commerce. For commerce, in addition to the diverse services provided by the LY Corporation group, we are now, of course, are providing diverse services. In addition to these diverse services, as we have, I have been explaining, with our newly launched LYP Premium in integrated commerce search, and with the renewal of LINE Shopping Tab, we will provide a convenient commerce experience at a great value. Lastly, I'd like to talk about Fintech. Next page, please. In the financial business, in order to consolidate overlapping businesses, we have been reorganizing since last year.
In the credit card business, by making PayPay Card a subsidiary of PayPay, we are accelerating generation with synergy by integrating QR code payments and credit card payments. Banking, securities, insurance, and consumer loans businesses overlapped within the group, so we aim to achieve a further growth by unifying in each business and increasing efficiency. As a result of this, selective focus on key business areas, adjusted EBITDA improved by JPY 7.8 billion in the first half, significantly improving the profitability of the financial business. Next page, please. Next is a linkage between PayPay and other financial services and LINE. First, on the left-hand side, we have a PayPay Card. It has changed its company name and started offering credit. So, after the linkage, transaction volume, it continues to grow by more than 20%.
As for PayPay Bank, with its trade name change, and by providing services from the PayPay Mini Apps, the number of bank accounts opened via PayPay is steadily increasing. On the right-hand side, with respect to linkages with LINE, which are planned to allow for seamless PayPay payments on the LINE app. And the PayPay transfer to LINE friends, which are more convenient features for users, for further growth of PayPay. Next page, please. The LINE and Yahoo! Japan prepare the growth cycle of financial services. With the influx of users from LINE and Yahoo! Japan, PayPay's user base will expand, sending customers to PayPay's financial mini apps, and furthermore, will promote cross-use between financial services.
In addition, by improving the convenience of points, we will create a positive cycle of increasing user engagement, expanding the customer base for financial service as a whole. Finally, I will explain action to implement management that is cost-conscious of cost of capital and stock price. Please take a look at the next page. An issue we need to address for our capital policy is due to the increase in the number of shares and net assets from the business integration in 2021, we need to recover from the deterioration in EPS. On the other hand, considering that interest-bearing debt is at an appropriate level, we have adopted cost of equity as the cost of capital. We estimate the cost of equity for the last year to be around 6.5% to 7.5%.
Toward achieving a positive equity spread, first, we will recover adjusted EPS to 18.7 JPY, the pre-integration level. Next page, please. We will work to recover adjusted EPS by improving profitability and optimizing equity with a clear capital allocation policy. Capital allocation involves allocating operating cash flows, excluding those from the financial business to base investments and shareholder returns. Using this surplus and the increase in cash due to the merger effect, we will flexibly allocate it to additional investments that contribute to medium and long-term business growth and additional shareholder returns, such as share buybacks. In addition, adjusted EPS has been adopted as evaluation criteria for executive remuneration. As a result, executives are now in the same boat with our shareholders. We will work on profit improvement, which is the numerator of the adjusted EPS, and at optimizing capital, which is the denominator.
In the first half, we were able to make a significant recovery in Adjusted EPS, mainly through defensive initiatives, such as selective focus on key business areas and cost reductions. We aim to recover Adjusted EPS to pre-integration level within adjusted around three to four years. Next page, please. So, thank you so much for listening.
We would like to start the Q&A session. If you have any questions, please use the Zoom function, Raise Hand button. Then when your turn comes and your name is called by the MC, please ask your question. Let me say it once again. If you have any question, please use the Raise Hand button on Zoom, and when your turn comes and your name is called by the MC, please ask your question. For the questions, we would like to entertain up to two questions per person, and then please ask both the first and second question together before we respond. Now we would like to start Q&A. First, UBS Securities, Fukuyama, please unmute yourself.
Yes. Thank you very much for the opportunity to ask a question. My name is Fukuyama from UBS. I have two questions about advertising. The first is about the second half, domestic ad market outlook. When you look at your performance, display ad in Q2 has stopped, well, going down, but, for the second half, can you accelerate your growth? If you can, what are the drivers for the growth in the second half? This is my first question.
Could you ask the first and second questions together?
Yes. Thank you. For the second question, this is about Yahoo News. What is the procurement price for news? You have already announced the new pricing, but, what is the size of the advertising revenue related to news? If you raise the price, and then what will be the positive impact on the profits of media and business? Do you have any simulated calculation results? Yes, thank you very much for your question.
For the first question about the second half ad outlook, Ikehata, who is in charge of advertising, is going to respond. For the Yahoo News, CFO Sakaue would like to respond to your question.
Yes, this is Ikehata speaking. Thank you very much for your question. For the first question about the ad market outlook for the second half, I would like to respond. In this presentation, we have already indicated that LY Corporation ad business negative profit has been reduced. Therefore, we think that the market conditions has already bottomed out, and for the second half, gradually, we will see a recovery of the market conditions. It may be a moderate recovery, but we are expecting a recovery anyways.
This trend is something that we like to take advantage of as a group for the display call ad and other ads. We would like to expand our distribution ad distribution mechanism so that we can capture the opportunity. So that's my answer for the first question. The second question was about Yahoo News.
This is Sakaue speaking. I'd like to respond. Regarding news sales revenue or other information, we are not disclosing any details. We are afraid that we can't make any comments on Yahoo News. In terms of the impact on earnings, for the review of the rates have not been decided yet. With the information providers, we already have discussions, and we would like to explain about our logic for the information distribution and some of the simulation with the numbers.
So that means that we have just started the conversation with them. So we have to proceed with the conversation, otherwise the impact on the earnings cannot be determined yet. So at this moment, we are not sure how much impact we will have. So when we have progress on this front, we would like to communicate the more information with the investors.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Next, from SMBC Nikko, Mr. Maeda, please, de-mute and ask questions.
Thank you. I would like to ask two questions, if I may. About the now black ink of the strategic business, as well, there might be well red ink if there's addition or necessary investment. So EPS 18.7 JPY. Now, in this process, to maintain the black ink for strategic business or expansion, what would be the pace at which to achieve that, or what are your thoughts? My second question, again, about to achieving 18.7 JPY, the traditional KPI, the adjusted EBITDA, what do you think the size would be? The including the improvement of the equity method revenue.
Well, what are your thoughts on EBITDA? These are my two questions.
Now, this is Sakaue speaking. I would like to answer the two questions. About our strategic business, for Q2, it's black ink. PayPay has achieved the black ink.
So it was profitable. But in the second half, well, over short term, in the second half, PayPay, we've already begun PayPay Matsuri. And also in March, it's going to be a buoyant business period, so we're going to increase promotion. So in the second half, again, well, there is a possibility that it will be a loss in the strategic segment. After fiscal 2024, PayPay and other businesses, we will increase our profitability in the strategic segment. After fiscal 2024, we would like to achieve a profitability. That's my answer to your first question. And about our EPS, your second question, well, well, there is an equity method, the investment profit and loss.
I can't really give you an indication about the size, but on the left-hand side, you see capital allocation, the ballpark number for three years. As you see from there, well, the messaging is we would like to continue revenue increase. That's well, it's not a declaration, but that is something that we'd like to steadily achieve. But, of course, well, 18.7 cannot be achieved without increased profitability, so that's something we would like to achieve. So when it comes to the size of EBITDA, right now, at this moment, I would like to refrain from giving comments. Every year, we would like to show you guidance for EBITDA as we try to communicate with you. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Next is from Goldman Sachs, Munakata. Please unmute yourself before asking questions. Goldman Sachs.
My name is Munakata. Thank you very much for the opportunity. I have two questions as well. The first question is about ID Linkage. Already, 200 million members are gained, so this is beyond expectation, you said. But from our perspective, ID Linkage, you may not be pushing so much to the users. That's my impression. What kind of measures have you taken? What was the reason for the overshooting of the initial expectation? And in the second half onward, should we expect the same pace to continue? Given what is happening, if the linkage ratio is going back up to 70% or 80%, when do you think that is going to be achieved? That's the first question.
The second question is about Q2 progress, as well as the guidance. As of the end of Q1, you were overshooting the guidance, but in July to September quarter, you are overshooting again vis-à-vis the internal target. Can I say that? Is that correct? You said you are maintaining the guidance, but if you have more progress going forward, simply you would have an upside. Can we expect that? Or in the second half, there are important events such as the premium membership renewal, therefore, you would like to increase the sales promotion in the Q2, so we shouldn't expect overshooting of the guidance.
Thank you very much for the question. Regarding ID linkage, Munakata-san, you are right. We don't have a special promotion. Organically, we were able to increase the members.
Nearly 20 million members, 19.58 million members were achieved. We don't think this pace will continue going forward. In parallel with the consent from the LINE members, well, depending on that number, this LINE linkage number will be determined. Therefore, the organic addition, maybe another several million members we can add to what we already have. And sales promotion will be starting from now, when the LYP Premium will start at the end of November. After that, we will be accelerating the full-fledged promotion expenses. Therefore, how much users will consent and decide to join us, that is something we want to see. We are not disclosing any specific numbers yet. So regarding guidance, Sakaue, could you respond?
Yes, I would like to respond on guidance. In this first half, we compared with the company's guidance or plan, the profits or earning was greater, higher. As was mentioned in the presentation, in the second half, at the end of this month, we are starting LYP Premium. Therefore, we are investing some sales promotions, and we would like to determine how much we are doing so. And for the ad markets, there are still uncertainties. So because of those two factors, at this point in time, we have decided not to revise the guidance. And another factor is LYP Premium acquisition. Whether we want. Rather than expanding the number in a by using inefficient investment, we want to focus on the efficiency.
Therefore, one possibility is that highly efficient promotion plans, if we can't find any, and then we may have upside on earnings.
B ut our priority is LYP Premium, because this is a stock-type earnings source for the future. Therefore, we would like to secure the reasonable level of business there. Maybe in Q3, we will see more visibility into the initial dynamics. Therefore, in the next earnings announcements, we would like to make a decision, probably. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next, from Citigroup Securities, Mitsunobu Tsuruo. Please, unmute and ask a question.
I have unmuted. I have two questions. Thank you for this opportunity. Question one, this is a follow-up questions from the previous question. Now, EBITDA, a 55% progress rate. Now, the plan, at the beginning of the year, was it 50%? If that is the case, then, in the second half, or, the second, quarter, to- cost, top line growth or segment, please give us a breakdown of the number. And the second question, search, related question. Now, the linkage of the, two, accounts, have, generated the various measures, and, how, can the, long-term decline be arrested?
For example, if this is a mountain climbing, how high have you achieved in terms of the level? Now, what's your analysis of the background of the share drop? The reason why I ask this question is, as the Fair Trade Commission says, the competition will obstructing actions or search lever or mobile issue. There are a variety of issues, I think. So how are we going to, how is the management looking at these issues and have started taking measures? I would like to explain, well, understand that in a dynamic question. Thank you.
To your first question, Sakaue speaking. I would like to answer that question first. To break it down by segment, now, media segment, EBITDA, from the perspective of EBITDA, the progress rate is 48%, about 48%.
In the second half, where display, well, it's been coming back to a good growth rate. When it comes to search, as shown on the slide, partner websites on a continuous basis, it will be a 30% decline. I think this kind of a situation will continue. As for the search ad, last year around the same time this year, well, UI/UX major, well, the change will come to, well, some, the effect will come to an end. As for media, its own trend, the ad revenue result, as shown on the guidance, the first half of the sec of the two-digit is something we'd like to arrive at. As for commerce, EBITDA progress rate, it's about 52%.
So, it's on the plus side. For this, as expected, it's been coming as expected. So in the second half, the Yahoo! Shopping, there's going to be a shopping period, and also LYP Premium will start. And because of this, the GMV of Yahoo! Shopping is something we would like to bring to positive in Q3 and Q4, where we would like to recover, see a recovery to positive. So for commerce, the EBITDA in the breakdown, this will arrive at what we expect as planned. So in the internal plan, we are on the upside, where strategy and the other adjustments have been, well, contemplated, and more than expected, the profit is being generated.
From the plan of the company, it's a positive point, and so that's about the first half. So the progress has been good in the first half. As for the second half, now, PayPay promotion, how aggressively we're going to do this, it will depend on it. But throughout the year, well, compared with our expectation at the beginning of the year, the possibility of arriving at a positive might be a better possibility. But LYP Premium, the membership acquisition, will be the foundation for our future. So we'll do allocation and consider this issue. That's my answer to your first question. About the search, Idezawa will answer that question.
To answer your second question, what is the structure and how far we have come? Now, as you pointed out, structural issues are there, and we are where we are because of that. For example, the engine, well, we have been provided with that, and also the things are changing drastically, and so OS and also the hardware impact is getting greater, and also the situation is changing, and also generative AI is coming along. So there's a complex or pretty big change is happening right now. From that perspective, how far have we come? Well, at long last, we are now taking. We can take positive measures at this moment.
So, as I explained before, well, the areas where we can, well, differentiate on our own, we would like to differentiate ourselves, certainly, and also we would like to, well, establish a partnership. Also, generative AI, AI is something of course, there are a lot of choices. So, how to work on it is another factor for further growth. Thank you.
Hi. Follow-up question to the first question. In the first half, the cost reduction has been accelerating, but in the second half, what is the progress of cost reduction?
Thank you. Right. In the second half, just like the first half, we are proceeding at around the same pace. To add, in the first half, as shown on the slide, the promotion efficiency, better efficiency, was positive both in Q1 and Q2. Well, after Q3, again, there's going to be a shopping period, buoyant shopping period, and so, for the sales promotion, the efficiency for the fixed cost might be weakened. But of course, the outsourcing will continue, JPY 2 billion to JPY 3 billion per quarter.
That kind of a reduction will continue on an YOY basis. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, from Okasan Securities, Okumura, could you unmute yourself?
Thank you. From Okasan, my name is Okumura. Okay. I have two points. First, ID linkage impact from this. Already linked users, compared with the conventional users, the targeting accuracy is higher or is CTR better? Any positive impact on KPIs? You were talking about 5% to 10% efficiency, 5% to 15% efficiency increase in advertising. Has it changed? And when do you think you can hit that target or benchmark in terms of the effectiveness of advertisement? Second question is about capital allocation. You explained it in the presentation. According to your explanation, buyback is one of the choices or options. So what is your ideas about buyback? EPS, or if you are putting it back to FY 2019 level, maybe with the earnings growth, is it difficult?
Is that why you include it as an option, or is there any option to do buyback every year little by little? How about the floating shares? Maybe because of your situation, it's difficult to buy from the market. How about A Holdings? Is it, are you thinking about them in the buyback program? That's my second question.
Yes, for the first question, Ikehata and Sakaue is going to ask and respond to the second question.
This is Ikehata. Thank you for the question. Regarding ID linkage, expected impact from that, was the question. And in the presentation, we mentioned that when there is any progress in ID linkage for Yahoo media and online media, user activation will increase over to media.
And with the ID Linkage, the user resolution will increase, and, distribution accuracy of, ads will increase. So that means, increasing advertising revenues we should have in the end. And, that's what we said in the presentation. And, what is the timeline for, realizing such an impact? If that's the question, for the short term, for FY 2023, are we expecting any impact in accuracy of advertising, from ID Linkage? No, we are not. So through the Cross-use of users, when we, cultivate more and more, and then, we will start the data utilization and improvement of the, advertising targeting accuracy at the same time. So that means in the medium term, we would like to realize, those effects and the expansion of the business.
You said that at the beginning, we were thinking about 10% effect or impact, and that was your comment or question. This benchmark or level is unchanged, and we think that this is a kind of initiative that can achieve the level that high.
Thank you very much.
The second question regarding capital allocation, Sakaue would like to respond.
Well, in terms of the EPS recovery, basically, we are going to achieve it through the earnings growth. That's the basic stance. And secondly, our stance about capital allocation is something that we would like to respect for the three-year term or so. For the cash inflow and cash outflow, we would like to keep it even.
... and priority is M&A and other investments into the future. So that the IRI, or as we have more and more profitability, that will be the priority. But when there is excess cash, and then we would like to reinvest the cash into our own business or conduct a share buyback. In terms of the floating share ratio, you are right in mentioning that. And we don't have to buy necessarily from the parent company, but from the parent company, more than prorated ratio, we have to buy, otherwise, the floating share ratio will deteriorate, if you think about the numerator and the denominator. So regarding that, with A Holdings, we would like to continue to have discussions, including the timing of the share buyback and conduct the program. That's all.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for the explanation. That's all.
Thank you. Next, from Mizuho Securities, Kishimoto, please unmute and ask a question.
Kishimoto from Mizuho Securities. Thank you for the presentation. I have one major question about media business. What is your outlook? Well, page 12 of the material, well, mix will change. The partners website proportion is coming down, and that may be contributing to the reduction of the profitability. If this trend continues, then margin for the second half will increase. Is this an expectation? And also, about ID Linkage, the, s orry. The targeting precision will improve, and that will push up the profitability. Is this a correct understanding? So, in introducing these new systems, the advanced investment will be necessary, so the targeting, the precision will improve. So what is the outlook of the margin going forward?
This is my first, the single question.
Well, my name is Sakaue, Sakaue speaking. Thank you. Well, as you say, right, the search, the ad, the low-margin partner websites will reduce and LINE, the LY Corporation's websites will increase, and also as CPA down and the unit price will increase, and that pushes up the profitability. And so, your understanding is correct. However, the margin, well, it's large, so to improve just one or two percent is enormously difficult, so we'd like to make steady efforts in trying to achieve that. And so far, well, 40% is something that we'd like to aim toward, but a new, the allocation rule with our integration, the overall cost, the allocation rule, in from the second half, will be adopted.
And so on the immediate segment side, the other adjustment cost in, well, that's a negative for profitability. So the way we show you the margin, we would like to study that and explain that in the second half. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Now, we are entertaining questions from investors. If you have any question, please use the Raise Hand button of Zoom. Let me repeat once again, please use the Raise Hand button of Zoom if you have any questions. From Goldman Sachs, Munakata, please unmute yourself.
Thank you. This is the second time. My name is Munakata from Goldman Sachs. I have just one question. You discussed today the renewal of LINE app. I have a question about it. Specifically, when is it that you are changing your LINE app? Maybe you are not changing all at once. What is the timeline for the changes upcoming? And, I don't., y ou said that this is not going to be the first product, but at a glance, it seems that you have less news tabs. But for news ad revenue-news, are there any negative impact anticipated from this? That's all.
Thank you for your question. The timing for renewal is within FY 2024. That's what we can say. The reason is as follows: as you pointed out, the change is going to be a complex change. So from users, they will see a change in the displays that they are familiar with. Therefore, we would like to take necessary steps, the, when the, while doing various tests with the users.
So FY 2024, from the beginning of the fiscal year, we would like to start the testing and gradually change and complete the implementation of the changes around the end of FY 2024. So when we have made more concrete plans, and then we would like to let you know. Another point is about the impact on revenue. Well, that is another reason why we are trying to take cautious steps implementing various tests. At the moment, in total, the effectiveness on revenues should be unchanged or even improve. So that's how we would like to think about the balance with the user acceptance. Therefore, from different aspects, we would like to think about the changes and proceed with the change.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Next, MST Financial Services Pty Ltd, Mr. David Gibson, please de-mute and ask a question.
Thank you. Just one simple question: Do you expect in the next 12 months for PayPay to IPO? And similarly, do you expect Webtoon by Naver to IPO, which would actually both would realize significant value for LY Corp and shareholders? Thank you.
Thank you for the question. Yeah, I would like to answer those questions. Now, with respect to PayPay, as before, well, IPO is one choice that we are thinking of. Specifically, have we decided on anything? No. That is the current situation. And about Webtoon, well, Naver is the parent company, so I really cannot decide it. So we would like to have a good conversation with Naver going forward and study about this. So well, the intention of Naver is something we would like to confirm. To the extent I know, specifically is, well, any specific, well, no specific plan about IPO has been decided. Thank you.
Thank you. It seems that there are no further questions, so we would like to close the Q&A session. Lastly, Mr. Idezawa would like to say a few words in closing.
Yes, thank you very much for participating in the earnings results meeting, despite your busy schedule. This is the first analyst meeting as LY Corporation. In terms of progress, we think that we have made a good progress, but we don't want to relax yet, and we would like to continue to become a lean structure and continue to make efforts and pursue the further growth strategy because we have finally been integrated. Therefore, we would like to make this as a trigger in increasing the top line, as well as the number of users. And we would appreciate your continued guidance. Thank you very much.
This concludes the business results meeting for Q2 of FY 2023 of LY Corporation. Thank you very much for joining us today.