Now, we will start the Fiscal 2024 Result and the Medium-term Management Plan briefings. Again, please refrain from recording during the session. Presentation material is available on the top page of our website. Please note that today's conference is being recorded. First, let me introduce today's speakers: Mr. Hiroshi Usui, Executive Officer, Corporate Planning, Accounting and Finance, Information System, and the Corporate Communication Department. Mr. Atsushi Habe , General Manager of Accounting and Finance Department. Mr. Yasushi Minegishi, General Manager of Corporate Communication Department. Mr. Usui will give a presentation followed by a Q&A session. His presentation is in Japanese, followed by English interpreter. Mr. Usui-san, please go ahead.
Okay. Hello. My name is Hiroshi Usui. So again, thank you very much for taking your time to join us today. Today, I will present our new Mid-term Management Plan, including the year 2024 result. So today, as previously mentioned, I will present in Japanese. That will be translated into English by a professional. So I understand you may feel inconvenience, but we are very sorry about that. We appreciate your understanding and the cooperation. So from now, I will start in Japanese. [Foreign language]
So first, let me explain the results of the 2024 fiscal year, and this page shows the year-on-year comparison.
[Foreign language]
So the sales decline year-on-year by 3.1% to JPY 323.4 billion. The businesses such as Transport Solutions TRS and Accessibility Solutions ACB were doing well and favorable for us, but the total sales decreased due to the sluggish demand in the CMP business. As for the operating profit, it was a decline by 14.9 percentage points to JPY 14.8 billion. So once again, the TRS, Transport, and Accessibility ACB were doing well, and the profit increased, but the total profit decreased due to the sales decrease in CMP business and the recognition of impairment loss.
[Foreign language]
Now, this slide shows our actual for 2024 fiscal year versus the Plan. The sales were good. We achieved the results that were almost in line with the Plan. As for the operating profit, we exceeded the Plan by about 10%, and it was JPY 14.8 billion. The major reason for this was that we were bringing about good results out of the Project 10, and the results were coming out at a greater level at a faster pace.
[Foreign language]
Okay. So this page shows the progress of the previous Mid-term Plan, and we're showing the sales and profits on this slide. And compared against the end of the previous Mid-term period of 2021, we achieved the sales increase of about nearly 8%, although we could not achieve the Plan that we had for 2024. As for the operating profit, it declined very much compared against the 2021 level. And to explain what was happening with each segment, the CMP, Component Solutions segment achieved the poor results. And in fact, improvement in the profitability is going to be really crucial because we have been suffering from the stagnant demand, tough competition in hydraulic, and also the delay of the price pass-throughs. And so that was about the CMP. And as for TRS, Transport, and Accessibility ACB, we were basically in line with our Plan. So we were doing well.
Compared against the previous Mid-term period, we achieved an increase in both the sales and operating profits for those businesses.
[Foreign language]
Now, we regret that during the previous Mid-term period, we were relying too much on the CMP business alone in our profitability structure. But in this Mid-term period, which just ended in December 2024, we could achieve big growth from the TRS and ACB. And therefore, from here on, we believe that we have three big pillars: CMP, TRS, and ACB to be driving our profit going forward.
[Foreign language] M
Next, I'd like to talk about the New Midterm Plan.
[Foreign language]
Now, the previous Midterm Management Plan period was considered to be that time we were sowing the seeds. And now we are going to enter this new Mid-term Management Plan period, which is from FY 2025 until 2027. And in working on this, we are looking into the target to be achieved by 2030. And with that in mind, with the bigger vision in mind, we believe the current mid-term period is going to be the period for fostering. And we have two policies that we're going to set forth, namely, one is Reviving Potential, and the other is Evolving Excellence.
[Foreign language]
Regarding the first one, Reviving Potential, we'd like to achieve and execute the Project 10, and with that, we'd like to improve our profitability.
[Foreign language]
Now, as for the Evolving Excellence part, we would like to evolve the current motion control to Smart Motion Control. I'd like to explain what that means using this diagram over here on the right. So far, Nabtesco has been leveraging on the strength in our Component Solutions segment business. We were unfolding our motion control from there. We'd like to evolve this further based on the three keywords mentioned here: Electrification, Integration, and Data Solution. By evolving ourselves through these, we'd like to achieve the Smart Motion Control. Each one of the business units would be positioned according to each one of their levels. Basically, what we'd like to do is to add more added values and offer more products that would be systemized and would be following this concept of Smart Motion Control.
[Foreign language]
Here are the numerical targets in our new Mid-term Management Plan. As for ROIC, we are targeting to achieve the level that is over 10% or higher by FY 2027. As for returns to the shareholders, previously we were sticking to the dividend payout ratio as a benchmark. But in order to provide more stable dividend payout, we would like to now use DOE, dividend on equity ratio, and our target is 3.5%. And with that, while providing stable dividend, we would also like to conduct some share buybacks flexibly. The third one is the environmental target. Based upon compared against FY 2015, and to meet the target of SBT 1.5 degrees Celsius target, we would like to aim for the reduction of the CO2 emission by 50% by 2027.
[Foreign language]
Now, here are the details of our new Mid-term Plan for the respective segment sales and operating profits. For the total consolidated company, by 2027, we'd like to target about sales of JPY 400 billion and the operating profit of JPY 42 billion. As I said earlier, we were heavily relying on CMP, Component Solutions previously, but now we have three pillars. In addition to CMP, we have the Transport Solutions, TRS, and Accessibility, ACB. We would like to see all those three to be contributing to the profit structure from here toward 2027.
[Foreign language]
Now.
Okay, go ahead.
Sumimasen. Now, this slide shows the progress of our Project 10. And we are aiming to achieve a 10% OP margin by 2026 for the whole company, for the consolidated basis. And so far, for the total consolidated basis, Nabtesco has been overachieving compared against the Plan. And more specifically, under this Project 10, we were assuming that 2024's profit margin, OP margin level would be 4.0%. But in fact, we achieved 4.6%, which was much higher than the original Plan.
[Foreign language]
Now, the right-hand side is showing the achievement level, Project 10, for the Component Solutions CMP segment alone, and in fact, in 2024, we were assuming that our operating profit margin for this segment would be 2.8%, but as a result of good activities that we conducted under Project 10, we achieved the upside, and the actual OP margin turned out to be 4.1%, so you can see that we are making good progress for this CMP segment as well.
[Foreign language]
Now, this slide shows our approach, basic approach to our portfolio Management, and in fact, we introduced this portfolio concept from the previous Mid-term Plan. We have two axes over here, and one is the financial evaluation, sorry, two perspectives. One is the financial evaluation, and the other is the business potential evaluation. In conducting those evaluations, looking into our business portfolio, we conducted evaluation from these aspects and discussed the way that we should move forward. Under the current, this Mid-term Plan period, how we are going to carry out is summarized on the right-hand side over here. We'd like to, of course, carry out the Project 10 continually, and on top of it, we'd like to work on evolving to Smart Motion Control. That's how we'd like to evolve our portfolio further with this in mind.
And to be more specific here, the way to look at the financial evaluation, we looked into the hurdle rate as a benchmark. And anything that was below the certain hurdle rate was supposed to be leveled up. We had to do the bottom-up of those businesses. So we are going to work on that thoroughly through the Project 10. And to achieve further growth beyond that, we would like to work on the evolution towards Smart Motion Control. And so that's the Plan that we're having for this Mid-term period.
[Foreign language]
Now, here we are showing what we are going to actually do for those four business segments, business units, based on the Plan that we have shown you earlier. And except for the Accessibility Solutions, ACB, we are Planning to achieve good improvement in both the growth and profitability for the remaining three segments. And as for ACB, we are, of course, determined to achieve the profitability improvement, but in the meantime, we'd like to work on some selection and focus of the businesses too. So for this ACB, we'd like to focus more on the profitability than the growth.
[Foreign language]
Now, this slide is indicating what I have just been explaining in a diagram. And so you can see with these arrows how those businesses would move in this portfolio matrix. And basically, we'd like all the four businesses to go higher and also more toward the right side with those actions that I stated earlier.
[Foreign language]
Now, this one shows our cash allocation Plan. And in this new Mid-term period, we are assuming the cash in of JPY 160 billion. And as for the cash out, as shown on the right-hand here, we'd like, of course, to secure the base working capital. But on top of it, we are assuming the R&D expense to be about JPY 40 billion, the capital expenditure to be about JPY 45 billion, and the shareholder return to be about JPY 30 billion or more. And in fact, as a part of this shareholder return, we are considering probably doing the share buyback as well. But then again, that would be also up to the investments for growth. For the future growth, we may also conduct some M&As. And so if we still had extra money, we may do the shareholder return or share buybacks.
That's basically the idea behind this flexibility in the share buybacks. So what we'd like to do basically is to continually invest for the future growth, but at the same time, return well to the shareholders.
[Foreign language]
Now, I'd like to talk about our Plan for FY 2025.
[Foreign language]
[Foreign language] Okay. So this slide shows the market trend forecast for 2025. And starting from the CMP Component Solutions, we are thinking that the market for this business would enter into the recovery phase. And first, in the precision reduction gears, last year we suffered from those robot manufacturers having too much inventory on their side. But now we are seeing a more normalized level. And in addition to that, the capital expenditure in the automobile industry is likely to recover. And in fact, however, we are not expecting V-shaped recovery just yet. It's more like a U-shaped recovery. So the full-scale recovery of the demand would have to wait until the second half of 2025.
[Foreign language]
Now, as for TRS, we think we can continue to enjoy very strong demand.
[Foreign language]
Now, this slide shows the Plans for 2025 sales and operating profit. Starting from the sales, we are expecting a 3.9% increase to JPY 336 billion. The big contributor is expected to be the precision reduction gears, where we can expect the demand improvement, and also TRS, which is continually likely to drive the demand further. With that, we are expecting an increase in sales year- on- year.
[Foreign language]
Now, as for the operating profit, we're expecting a 26% increase year- on- year to JPY 18.7 billion. And this is going to be driven by the sales growth as well as the effect of the Project 10. And with that, we're expecting a big improvement in the operating profit. And on top of it, suppose that the foreign exchange rate was the same as that of 2024, this operating profit amount could be as high as JPY 20 billion.
So this is the last page from me. So thank you very much for your cooperation and listening. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Now, let's move on to the Q&A session. Please let us know your name and company from the Q&A button or just on the raise hand now. I will appoint the questioner. Anyone have any questions? Once again, does anyone have any questions? Okay. Thank you, William. Please unmute yourself and ask questions. Thank you.
I know this is about just one year, but everybody wants to know, when will robot gears increase the sales more? When will it begin to expand? You said that the inventory problem is resolved more or less at the makers, but your growth forecast seems quite weak. Is it going to be much stronger in 2026? That's my main question.
[Foreign language]
[Foreign language]
Okay, so as you know, as you know, the inventory issue is already over, and now we're expecting the demand recovery in the end market, especially the automobile market. Now, your question is, when it's going to start recovering, and we're thinking second half of 2025, which is from July until December, somewhere between that period, and one more thing about the timing when we receive the order and then it will become the sales, well, in fact, the lead time of our products is very short. This product is very short. It's four weeks. Therefore, once we receive the order, we can deliver and book the sales in the following month, so there's not going to be much of a time lag between the order and sales.
Okay. And one more question. For fiscal year 2027, you have a very aggressive sales forecast or guidance. Is all of that robot—is all of that a reduction gear, or is some of that hydraulic? Will that all be an increase in reduction gears, the JPY 150 billion?
[Foreign language]
[Foreign language]
So in fact, as for the hydraulic equipment, which is included in this Component Solutions segment, we are assuming both the sales growth as well as the profit growth to be flattish in 2025, 2026, and 2027. And therefore, the growth will be driven by the precision reduction gears. And in fact, maybe if you compare it against some of the data that's shown by IFR about the robotic market growth, you might think our growth expectation might be too high than that. But that is because about 15%-20% of the sales mix in these precision reduction gears are for the general industry, not necessarily the industrial robots. So in the coming two to three years' time, we'd like to grow this general industrial usage much more. And with that, we'd like to boost the sales further.
Okay. And is the current operating profit margin for the general use, is that higher than for automotive use? And will this improve going forward, or will it remain static, the operating margin level for an automotive general?
[Foreign language]
[Foreign language]
In fact, the profitability is better for the general industry than the industrial robots. But of course, we are determined to improve the profit margin further by adding more values to the products too. But much more than that added value, we think there will be greater contribution coming from the sales expansion into various different target areas. So with that, we would like to achieve the growth in both the sales and operating profits.
So is the non-robotics right now, is the margin about double? Can you just give me some idea or some rough estimate? You said it's better than robotics, but how much better? Double, triple? Just in general, just some idea.
[Foreign language]
[Foreign language]
I'm sorry, but all I can tell you is that compared against the industrial robot usage, the general industrial reduction gears' profitability is better. That's all I can really say. Because more specifically, each one of those equipment or devices in this general industry would be different, and depending on that, the profitability would also be different, so it's difficult to generalize.
Okay, and my last question, because I don't want to ask too many questions. My last question is, will you also be more selective in orders for the non-robotics? For example, in accessibility, you will be more selective in orders overseas. What about for this non-robotics? Will you be more selective in orders, or is that not relevant?
[Foreign language]
[Foreign language]
Speaking of the non-robotic applications, we are having some good expectations for the short-term growth in the semiconductor industry and also in the logistics industry where there is a serious manpower shortage. For instance, as you see here, there's AGV, and that's one of the products and also the business areas that we'd like to focus on.
[Foreign language]
One more addition about the industrial robot areas. In fact, nowadays, there are a lot of Chinese local players, robotic manufacturers, up and rising. And in fact, most of those Chinese robot companies are seeking cheaper reduction gears. But under this Buy China policy of 2025, we understand that there are more needs for robots and the locally made ones as well. We'd like to target high-end Chinese robotic manufacturers in order to do the business and grow the sales there too.
Okay. I'm fine. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much. Any other questions? If you have any questions, please raise your hands or let us know your name and company from the Q&A button. Are there any other questions? If there are no more questions.
Certainly.
Okay. Let me check. We have a question from Q&A that says, "Can you let me know why the OPM declined substantially while GPM has been stable over the medium term?
OPMが。
[Foreign language]
[Foreign language]
So you're saying the gross profit margin has been stable, but actually, in 2024, we achieved improvement in gross profit margin year- on- year. And to give you a further breakdown here, for instance, automatic door business in accessibility. This is the business where we purchase from the third party, do some processing, and sell to the customers. But it would also require certain human power in the sales activities. There would be SG&A, which would hit the operating profit. But the margin for this profitability for this business has been improving along with the improvement in the revenue. So that's one contributor. And the other one is TRS Transport Solutions. The profitability in this business has also improved. So they were really contributing.
[Foreign language]
To add to that, the item that would hit the OP margin, impact the OP margin, would be the impairment loss according to the IFRS accounting rules. In FY 2024, we had an impairment loss in the Manufacturing Solutions segment. That amount was JPY 700 million, and that had some impact on OP margin.
Thank you very much. If you have any questions, are there any questions? Yeah. I'm sorry, I was muted. If there are any questions, are there any questions more? Oh, William, please unmute yourself and ask your question.
My last question is, what is the breakdown for robotics reduction gears between Japanese makers and non-Japanese makers as customers? It can be either your actual result or your forecast. What is the breakdown between Japanese robotics makers and non-Japanese robotics?
[Foreign language]
[Foreign language]
I will answer to you based on the actuals of FY 2024. In fact, out of the total precision reduction gears sales, 85% was going to the industrial robot industry, and out of which Japanese companies were 55%.
Okay, and which is more profitable in terms of margin? Is it the Japanese robot makers, or is it the non-Japanese, or are they the same margin, OPM?
[Foreign language]
[Foreign language]
There is no difference.
Okay. And also, the level of technology, is it the same level of technological, how can I say, of the product? Is there any difference in technology?
[Foreign language]
[Foreign language]
There is no difference in technical levels as well, and both of our Japanese customers as well as European customers are adopting our latest reduction gears.
[Foreign language]
However, as for the Chinese customers, they are purchasing the products, the models that's one generation prior to the latest one. And they are also copycat manufacturers in China too. And they are making the copycat of our two-generation-ago products.
Is a generation about four years in span or five years in span, just like the automotive cycle for models? Do you bring out a new generation every four or five years? What is the time duration?
[Foreign language]
[Foreign language]
No, actually, one generation is about 10 years.
Okay. Thank you. Yeah, so no change. Okay. Thank you. I asked this question before. Thank you.
[Foreign language]
Thank you very much. Are there any questions?
[Foreign language]
If there are no more questions, your time has come, so we just want to close the meeting. Thank you very much for joining us today.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
We close the meeting.
Yep. Bye.