Thank you very much. First of all, Yoshida will explain about our financial results overview and our forecast. Next, Kainuma will explain about the management policy and business strategy. After that, we will go into a Q&A session. We are planning to end this meeting at 7:00 P.M. Based on the MinebeaMitsumi Group environment policy, we do not distribute paper-based presentation material. Please download the QR code on the top right of the questionnaire paper and then view it through our website. Afterwards, please cooperate to answering our questionnaire afterwards. This briefing, including Q&A, is going to be streamed live on the internet. For the viewing of the website afterwards, we are recording this meeting. Please understand. Please refrain from taking photos or recording the meeting besides the staff of our company. Yoshida, Mr. Yoshida, the floor is yours.
Good afternoon. This is Yoshida.
Today, I would like to first explain our financial results overview for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025, and the forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2026. Consolidated net sales for the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2025, was up 8.6% year-on-year to a total of JPY 1,522.703 million. Operating income was up 28.5% year-over-year to a total of JPY 94.482 billion. Profit for the period attributable to owners of the parent was up 10% year-on-year to JPY 59.457 billion. Net sales hit record highs and increased for 13 consecutive terms. Operating income includes one-time expenses of approximately JPY 5 billion. Details will be explained later in the slides for each segment. Due to the depreciation of the yen, there was an increase of JPY 72.7 billion in net sales and an increase of JPY 10.5 billion in operating income from the previous year.
The financial statements for the quarter ending March 2025 have been slightly retroactively adjusted to reflect the processing of the PPAs of Minebea Power Devices and SoCo Next. Please note that the figures on the subsequent pages use the revised figures. Consolidated net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal year ending March 2025 was up 7.5% year-on-year and up 1.4% quarter-on-quarter to a total of JPY 374.823 billion. Operating income was up 5.8% year-on-year and down 17.7% quarter-on-quarter to a total of JPY 21.531 billion. Profit for the period attributable to owners of the parent decreased by 7.4% year-on-year and was down by 2.6% quarter-on-quarter to a total of JPY 16.966 billion. Operating income for the fourth quarter includes a one-time charge of approximately JPY 3 billion.
In this fourth quarter, the continued depreciation of the yen had a positive foreign exchange impact, increasing net sales by JPY 7.2 billion quarter-on-quarter and by JPY 12.1 billion year-on-year. Operating profit also saw a positive impact of JPY 1.4 billion quarter-on-quarter and JPY 800 million year-on-year. This slide shows the annual trend in net sales, operating income, and operating margin. The bar graph on the left is net sales, and the one on the right is operating income, along with a line chart for the operating margin. The operating margin for the fiscal year ending March 2025 was 6.2%, up 1 percentage point year-on-year. The quarterly trend in net sales, operating income, and operating margin is shown here. The operating margin for the fourth quarter was 5.7%. This was down 0.1 percentage points year-on-year and down 1.4 percentage points quarter-on-quarter.
This slide shows the difference between the forecast as of February and actual results for net sales and operating income by business segments for the fourth quarter. In sales, in the PT segment, it was higher than expected, primarily due to steady growth in bearings for data centers and automobiles. In MLS, the sales were higher than expected due to steady growth of motors for HDDs and automobiles. In the SE segment, sales were higher than expected in optical devices, mechanical components, and semiconductors. Sales of AES segment was above the forecast, mainly for automotive devices. With regard to the operating income, the PT segment was generally in line with the forecast. The MLS segment was impacted by new additional one-time charges. The SE segment was above the forecast due to the effect of increased revenues. The AES segment was generally in line with the forecast.
Now, taking a look at the results by segment, first starting with the precision technology segment. On the left is a graph indicating yearly net sales trends, and the right is a bar chart showing yearly operating income trends, along with a line chart for operating margins. In the fiscal year ending March 2025, net sales were up 21% year-on-year to a total of JPY 255.7 billion. Sales of ball bearings increased 15.5% year-on-year to reach JPY 171.8 billion. The monthly average of bearings sales volume totaled 237 million units, an increase of 15.9% year-on-year. By application, sales of products for data centers increased strongly, which drove overall growth. Sales of rod ends and fasteners were up 30.9% year-on-year to a total of JPY 59.1 billion. Products for aircraft applications performed well. Sales of PMC increased 41.6% year-on-year to a total of JPY 24.8 billion.
Operating income for the fiscal year March 2025 totaled JPY 55.7 billion, putting the operating margin at 21.8%. Operating income increased 46.4%, and the operating margin increased 3.8 percentage points year-on-year. Looking at the results by product, operating income for all products, including bearings, rod-ends and fasteners, and PMC, hit record high. For the fiscal year ending March 2026, in ball bearings, we expect volume growth for data centers due to continued data volume expansion and steady growth for automobiles due to continued content growth despite the sluggish automobile market. In our aircraft-related businesses, including rod-ends and fasteners, we expect continued benefit from the ongoing recovery in aircraft production rates. For PMC, we expect sales to remain at the same level as the previous year.
From this page onward, we are disclosing our plans for the fiscal year March 2026 for each segment and each management figure from two perspectives: base scenario and risk scenario. This will be explained later. This slide shows the quarterly trends of the PT segment. The third force on net sales increased 8.8% quarter-on-quarter to a total of JPY 66.8 billion. Sales of bearings increased 7% quarter-on-quarter to a total of JPY 44.2 billion. The monthly external shipment volume decreased 1.7% quarter-on-quarter to an average of 238 million units. Sales for data centers remained steady, but sales for office automation and other applications decreased. Sales of rod ends and fasteners totaling JPY 16.3 billion, up 17.3% from the previous quarter. Sales of PMC increased 1.9% quarter-on-quarter to a total of JPY 6.3 billion.
Operating income for the quarter totaled JPY 14 billion, and the operating margin was 21% on a quarter-on-quarter basis. Operating income was flat, and the operating margin fell 1.8 percentage points. Now, let's look at the motor lighting and sensing segment. Net sales increased 10.4% quarter-on-quarter to a total of JPY 407.7 billion. Looking at the results by product, we see the sales of motors increased 15.7% quarter-on-quarter to reach JPY 322.4 billion. This is mainly due to solid sales, particularly of motors for HDDs, automotive, and non-automotive applications. Sales of electronic devices were down 16.6% from the previous quarter to a total of JPY 41.1 billion. Sales of sensing devices totaling JPY 36.9 billion were up 3.1% from the previous quarter. Operating income was JPY 23 billion, with the operating margin of 5.6%. Operating income was up 93.7% year-on-year, and the operating margin increased 2.4 percentage points.
This includes a special factor of JPY 800 million, mainly the appropriation of loss caused by disposition of unnecessary inventory, excluding fetch, would be JPY 23.8 billion. In the fiscal year ending March 2026, we expect content growth for motors and automotive applications, even though the market is sluggish. We also expect continued solid growth for non-automotive applications. For electronic devices and sensing devices, we expect an increase in profits. This slide shows the quarterly trends for the MLS segment. Net sales were JPY 101.3 billion, unchanged from the previous quarter. Looking at the results by product, motor sales were JPY 80.5 billion, unchanged from the previous quarter. Sales of electronic devices were down 12.2% from the previous quarter to a total of JPY 8.7 billion. Sales of sensing devices were up 4.1% from the previous quarter to a total of JPY 9.3 billion.
Operating income came to JPY 4.8 billion, and the operating margin was 4.7%. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, operating income decreased 23.4%, and operating margin fell 1.5 percentage points. The special factor of JPY 800 million is appropriated in Q4. Let's look at the performance of semiconductors and electronic segment. Net sales increased 6.7% year-on-year to a total of JPY 527.6 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2025. This is due to the addition of the results of Minebea Power Devices, formerly Hitachi Power Devices, which became a consolidated subsidiary on May 2, 2024, in semiconductors, despite the lower sales in mechanical components. Operating income came to JPY 22 billion, and the operating margin was 4.2%. These figures represent a 38.1% year-on-year decrease in operating income and a 3 percentage points decrease year-on-year in the operating margin.
This includes a special factor of JPY 3 billion, mainly the appropriation of expenses related to disposition of PPA of Minebea Power Devices and SoCo Next, as well as expenses for exiting the Chinese camera actuator market. For the fiscal year ending March 2026, we will continue to work on improving the profitability of our sub-core businesses that are optical devices and mechanical components. This slide shows the quarterly trends for the SE segment. Net sales decreased 3.6% quarter-on-quarter to a total of JPY 121.6 billion. This was mainly due to a decrease in revenue of optical devices. Operating income totaled JPY 3.2 billion, while the operating margin was 2.6%. Operating income decreased 47.5%, and operating margin decreased 2.3 percentage points quarter-on-quarter. We revised the quarterly profit for fiscal year March 2025 retroactively, reflecting disposition of PPA of Minebea Power Devices and SoCo Next.
Finally, let's look at the access solutions and segment. Net sales increased 1.9% year-on-year to a total of JPY 328.1 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2025. This is due to a recovery in sales of the automotive devices despite a slowdown in the automotive market, especially in the Chinese market. Operating income came to JPY 15.9 billion, and the operating margin was 4.9%. These figures represent a 49.9% year-on-year increase in operating income and a 1.6 percentage points year-on-year increase in the operating margin. This includes a special factor of JPY 1.2 billion, mainly due to restructuring of some sites and expenses related to exiting from Russia, excluding which it would be JPY 17.1 billion. In the fiscal year ending March 2026, although the auto market is expected to remain sluggish, we expect an increase in sales and operating income.
This slide shows the quarterly trends for the access solutions segment. Net sales increased 5.3% quarter-on-quarter to a total of JPY 84.4 billion. Operating income came to JPY 5.3 billion, and the operating margin was 6.2%. Operating income increased 27.1%, and the operating margin rose 1 percentage points quarter-on-quarter. The bar graph here shows trends in full-year profit attributable to owners of the parent, while the line graph charts changes in the profit for the period per share. The profit for the period was JPY 59.15 billion. Earnings for the period per share was JPY 147.6. The bar graph here shows trends in quarterly profit attributable to the owners of the parent, while the line graph charts changes in the profit for the period per share. The profit for the period was JPY 17 billion. Earnings per share was JPY 42.3. Next is the quarterly inventory trend.
At the end of Q4, inventory totaled JPY 350.9 billion, down JPY 57.8 billion compared with three months ago. This graph contains a bar chart showing trends in net interest-bearing debt, which is total interest-bearing debt minus cash and cash equivalents, and the line chart indicating free cash flows. At the end of the quarter, net interest-bearing debt totaling JPY 241.5 billion was up JPY 32.8 billion from what it was at the end of the previous fiscal year. This mainly includes expenditures related to acquisition of Minebea Power Devices. As for free cash flow for the fiscal year ending March 2026, we at MinebeaMitsumi do not anticipate any M&A-related expenditures. This is a summary of our forecast for the current fiscal year ending March 2026. In consideration of the impact of the U.S.
Reciprocal tariffs on our business, we disclose the base scenario and the risk scenario for the current fiscal year. We assume an exchange rate of 140 yen to a dollar. Next, allow me to explain the changes in the segments. Beginning with the fiscal year ending March 2026, we will make the following two main changes. First, smart products, which previously belonged to the SE segment, will be transferred to the MLS segment as an inner segment change. Second, as a transfer between sub-segments within the MLS segment, resonant devices included in electronic devices in this financial report will be transferred to the motors segment. This slide shows the forecast by business segment based upon the base scenario. This slide shows the forecast by business segment based upon the risk scenario. This concludes my explanation.
Next, Mr. Kainuma, please.
From my side, I would like to talk about business policy and the management strategy, business strategy. In this slide, I think you can read it through, but in the previous year, $100 billion as an operating income, we were targeting that level. Unfortunately, in the previous year, we have not been able to achieve that level. The reason behind this is very clear. We called the sub-core business, optical devices and games, has not been able to generate the planned profit, actually, for the game business. It put a drag on profits. For the optical devices, there was a delay in the ramp-up, and we have lost share. For the game business, the productivity has declined, and it was before the model change was implemented, and there were some seasonal factors. That led to the results.
For the optical devices, in terms of the challenge for the productivity, I went over to the Philippines about five times from December last year, and I think we have corrected the situation for the game. We have been saying that the ICU, they're going to come out of the ICU. In terms of the daily output, I received the reports. It is over the target substantially in terms of the production output. From the customers, we have been getting requests for increased production. For the game business, I think basically they're out and clear out of the ICU. For the optical devices, you may know, but the China Rare Earth regulations or restrictions. About this, it is not a curfew, but there's a 40-day waiting period, and there will be some inspections. Suddenly, this started from April.
Of course, we have to—we have been submitting the applications. If things go well this month, or even if it is a delay at the beginning of next month, the situation will be resolved. That is our prediction. Next slide, please. This is the base scenario that we have announced. The yen is 145 yen right now, but we have assumed the exchange rate at 140 yen. This is the base scenario that we have announced. Including the risk scenario, and in terms of the background of why we came out with these numbers, I will explain that from the next slide onwards. I think everybody is interested about the U.S. reciprocal tariffs and the impact of this. Next slide, please. There is a lot of hypotheses, and there are very—a lot of assumptions that we can put in place.
In this company, I have been leading the company for 17 years, and there have been some happenings or unexpected things that have happened in the past years. As a result, I think basically I have been more or less correct in terms of my assumptions. What I am thinking right now is that in terms of the products, whether they are portable or not, I think I've divided into that category. First, what I mean is that if it's portable, for instance, when you travel, you need to go to the United States, it's up to $100. You don't have to pay any tax. If it goes to $1,000, a 3% import tax is imposed. I think it depends on the case for some people, you know, bring back one case of wine, and the tax you pay at the airport is quite minimal.
For instance, you know, binge shopping of Chinese people in Japan drew a lot of attention. I think for the portable, small products, using various paths, they will go into the United States. The issue is that for non-portable products, for instance, automotive, aircraft, larger home appliances, for those types of products, I think we have to be vigilant. First of all, for aircraft, we want to exclude that from that concern because the order backlog of Boeing is about 6,300, which China is refusing to receive, or 160 would be the backlog if China is going to refuse the receival. Even if that is the case, there is more than 6,000 of backlogs. From the customers, we have not been requested for a slowdown of production for Airbus. It is 8,726 backorder. They have that level of backorder for the United States.
It's 902 units. So, about 10% of their backlog is for the United States. For aircraft, if we exclude the aircraft, automotive and large home appliances would be the source of concerns. How much of an impact that they will be receiving, I do think President Trump himself does not have any idea. For instance, at S&P Mobility, for these reciprocal tariffs, the global automotive demand decline will be about 1.8%. They have made that announcement about one month ago. We will be using this figure, but we will put more stress on that number. 3%, this will include automotive and large home appliances, a 3% decline in demand. I will mention this later. In this first quarter, this year's first quarter, from my point of view, there was not a slowdown at all.
Up to now, April, May, June will be in line or maybe better than their plan. That is our anticipation. The three quarters, if you multiply that by three and, you know, put in some numbers like marginal profit, and we arrived at a number at about ¥85 billion. From the base scenario, considering the base scenario, about ¥100 billion will be coming from the currency impact. Based on the hypothesis that I have been talking about, there is a possibility that we'll be able to generate ¥150 billion of the operating. This will be a range. I used this range in COVID. We do not know when this will be resolved. Maybe it is next week, or maybe it will continue for a long time. We do not know when this is going to end.
In terms of the path of the solution, it is not clear. We should use a range. That is the reason I'm showing you these numbers. Next slide is the breakdown of these numbers. Please refer to this later afterwards. Next slide, please. This is the plans for the fiscal year of March 2026, and I would like to talk more in detail about this. Rolling over the three-year plan, that was what we do normally, but we do not know what's going to happen for this fiscal year. It will be very tough for us to make a three-year outlook. Because if the external factors become more clear, we want to update our outlook. For this time around, this three-year plan, I would like to ask for your understanding that we're not going to announce these specific numbers about this.
Segment by segment. First, PT. Fortunately, we are feeling the signs of strong growth, but now looking at the data center, the April, May, and June, very solid results for the plan. The data center, fan motors, solid orders. The April, continuing from March, 300 million units were shipped. One small market in the U.S., what is sold in the U.S., the bearings of our size, 10 million units here. The customers, because the tariff on Chinese products is very high, want to switch to us. We said that as long as they stick to our products for four years, we accept such requests. Regarding automotive components, right now, the customers have announced various things, but no indication of reduced production. I have confirmed with customers many times, and as of today, no indication of reduced production.
In Cambodia, the plant for mechanical components is being built, and we are hoping to do it in line with the plan. The motors. The motors and lighting and sensing, MLS. Motors. Record high has been renewed. Operating income, JPY 27 billion, is what we hoped for, but we fell short of that target. One thing is that one noteworthy thing is the backlight. The small-sized backlight for the smartphones. We enjoyed a boom, but such products reached the end of life. I mean, we are in a transitional period. However, in July, automotive backlight will be launched. I mean, the mass production will begin. The lighting, MLS lighting, probably has hit the bottom. Tablet. This fiscal year, we are hoping to increase production. That will be one segment of which can expect improvement in revenue. Next is semiconductor and electronics.
Semiconductors, as you can see here, is going well against the current environment. ABRIC continues to post higher than 30% OP margin. Niche product strategy we are taking. We focus on the niche markets where we can appeal our uniqueness. This part is going well in line with the plan. ICU has reached the end of life. Optical devices, we focus on rare earths. No problems for productions. We have announced personnel changes, like Iwaya, the Vice President. When Mitsumi was acquired, he served as the Co-President and worked together. He focuses efforts on AS, ASIOS, mechanical components, and connectors. These four things he will look after. Sooner or later, ICU will come to its end. Access solutions. Fortunately, the productivity improvement, as I might have mentioned this somewhere, Georgia plant in the U.S. I visited and talked.
Speed of talk time is no inferior to Southeast Asia. Americans are working on this. Previously, I thought that Americans are not very good at making things, but my perception was completely eradicated. Now American workers enjoy making improvements day in, day out. This is what we achieved. Based upon the base scenario, JPY 19 billion we would like to achieve. Wing handle. The new electronic products, like a wing handle, are different from the previous set of products we have included. Product mix changes are progressing in line with our assumption. The impact of reciprocal tariff, we are hoping that the impact will end in the shortest possible timeframe, at the lowest possible level. M&A. I have talked about M&A at various occasions, and I have not much to share with you regarding M&A. Next page, please.
The definition of spheres. This is very interesting. Next page, please. Synergy is quite huge. Next page, please. In order not to mislead you, I would like to say the following. I have been saying we need to protect Japanese technology and at the same time maximizing our share price. To some extent, these can go hand in hand and can be achieved at the same time. At a certain point, the things may benefit Japan as a whole, but not so much us. When that happens, I will focus on maximizing the shareholder value of this company. I used a unique expression, but 10 multiples of operating profit. Some people may think that it's like a constitution which can never be violated, but I need to renew such a perception. Operating income.
People like yourselves have been requesting us to increase operating income, and the company has become of a certain size, and therefore we are now working hard on increasing operating income. However, with regards to margins on acquisitions, what we have been able to purchase with 10 times operating income is because of the size of the company we acquired. If we want to buy something bigger, we need to pay more naturally. That is a global standard. That is the reason why the other company has come up with a big number. I'm sure that there is a duty of care principle in Taiwan, but in the integrated report issued last year, I said that I will not stick to such a principle when it comes to margins on acquisitions.
I have received many questions with regards to 10 times of operating income, but when we revised our strategy, that is what I have been talking about. I would like you to understand that. This will be our initiative for the mid to long-term growth. Let's go to the next slide. This integration, there have been a lot of products, and I think things are looking more fun. What I'm showing you here is the type of products that are going to be launched and what type of products of our products are used. We're starting with wing handles and the automotive doors, like taxis in Japan, will close and open automatically. These types of equipment and high-efficiency fan motors, our motor drivers, our semiconductors, towards our fan motors, we have developed it together.
This will improve the efficiency, and this will gain the trust from our customers. This has already started. At last, the Minebea Power Devices, IGBT, or SiC, utilizing those technologies, high power supply samples have been finished. Samples will be sent to various customers, and we'll be asking customers to evaluate them. Robot arms are shown here. I would like to talk about this in more detail afterwards about the robot arms. Our strategy, we have been steadily focusing and tracking our strategy. The products that are coming out here compared to our existing products and margins will be higher. I would like to inform you about that. Next is about humanoids, the humanoid robots. According to our calculation, by 2030, 1.42 million humanoid robots will be in the market, operating in the market.
In the market, there's a lot of numbers out there. If you just combine all these numbers, 3.2 million, if you just simply add the numbers. I think it's just too high a number. 1.42 million units will be the current prediction right now. Next slide, please. As you can see, these humanoid robots, a lot of our components will be used. There is a possibility of our components being used. Not all the humanoids will be using our components, but for the high-function humanoids, they will have to use high-function components. As you can see here, these types of components will be used. There's a hand here. In the hand of the humanoid robot, the small force sensors will be used and ball bearings.
It will be mentioned afterwards, but the small decelerator in each of the joints of the fingers will be used. It means that two ball bearings will be used for one joint. Very small, that is. For one finger, that means about six of these ball bearings. If it's five fingers, 30 ball bearings. If it's two hands, 60 ball bearings will be used. In the future, I think that type of needs will be coming out. In the next slide, this is the example that I want to show here. In the CES 2026, our cutting-edge technology is going to be introduced. This diagram, it only has four fingers, but I think the human being seems not to use five fingers. You only need four fingers. That's the reason why the robot has four fingers.
I think at the exhibition, we'll be showing five fingers. I think the focal point is that 13 by 13 millimeters, very small-sized reducers. By introducing this, for the conventional hands, in terms of the size, the hands will become bigger if you use big components. Using this reducer, 13 by 13, the hands will become as small as possible. At the same time, they'll be able to do difficult things. For instance, by opening a PEP bottle, for the humanoid robots, it's a difficult task to do. You have to grasp the lid, and then you have to turn the lid afterwards. This special movement can be conducted. This is the type of humanoid robot's hands at the CES we're going to show it. The R&D division is focusing. We have a video.
I can only show you how the fingers bend, but control of the force, for example, grab something forcefully or weak. That is what we are working on towards a 2026 CES. As I showed you previously, we will exhibit many components that will be used in robots and start sales activities for them. As you may be aware, at the expo, we are exhibiting the bed sensors. It has been 11 or 12 years since we started development, and now we have full-fledged products. In this coming fall, we will be able to launch the product, high-performance bed sensor. If you have an opportunity, it is displayed at the Persona Pavilion. More than 10,000 people are visiting that pavilion every day. Right next to it is Asahi Intech. The future catheter sheets and resonant devices are used in the catheter.
When the catheter is injected, when it hits the blood vessel, then the feedback is given to the hand. Streetlights at the expo site are all our products. Cambodia. The bilateral credit has been adopted, and things are moving forward in line with the plan. Shareholder return. We have been criticized that our shareholder returns, to be more specific, dividend is not high enough, but JPY 25 per share and JPY 45 per share of the full year dividend. We are targeting at the 30% dividend payout ratio. This concludes my explanation. Thank you for listening.
Let us move on to the Q&A session. We would like to limit the questioners to the analysts and the institutional investors. Before asking a question, please mention your affiliation. We will bring a microphone to you, so please raise your hand if you have a question.
The person in the front line near the aisle.
Takayama from Goldman Sachs. Thank you very much. I have two major questions. One is the profit budget for this year. The slide 23. SE. The profit is to decline based upon the base case. As Mr. Chairman said, the subcore products seem to be improving. Why is it expected to decline? MLS and AS access solutions seem to be inclined towards the second half. What are the reasons why improvements in the second half are expected?
First of all, SE profit. As I explained, in the segment, there are inter-segment changes, and if that is adjusted, it will be the same level as the previous year. The split of that is semiconductor business will see a slight increase in profit, and the mechanical products will see an increase in profit.
About the same amount comes from the optical devices. In net, it will be about the same. This is probably a conservative view, but the numbers that we have shown, the smart products were included in last fiscal year, but now it is transferred to MLS. There is a difference coming from that change. Also, the first and second halves, inclination towards the second half. In the first half, ¥42.5 billion and ¥57.5 billion in the second half. It is not such a huge bias or inclination, as Kainuma explained previously. The rare earth acquisition in the first half. In the first quarter, regarding optical devices, the numbers are expected to be quite low, but in Q2 onwards, we are expecting recovery to make the total number comparable to last year's number. The total number we put together with a conservative view based upon such assumption.
Please understand these numbers to be more specific: ¥42.5 billion or ¥42.5 billion in the first quarter, Q1, Q1, and Q2, ¥28.5 billion. Particularly Q1, inclusive of special factor. This is what we have. For confirmation, first half and second half, access solutions and the motor, MLS. MLS. What are the reasons why the profit of these two products are inclined towards the second half? MLS in the second half, for example, data center-related business is booming now. How long it can sustain is one question, but the bearings business is going well, and the motors are going well. Overall, the product mix is improving, and the motor profit is likely to improve. The backlight. The tablet production is expected to increase in the second half, and therefore ¥12 billion in the first half and ¥18 billion in the second half. Access solutions.
65 and 125 or 6.5 and 12.5 in Q1. We expected a slow start. However, as Kainuma explained previously, it's not so weak right now, inclusive of other segments. Probably we had taken a too conservative view. So, with that in your mind, please look at these numbers. I may be being persistent on this, but the SE, the optical devices, you expect to be in negative.
Last year, you had problems with starting up, but this year, you think that sales will be sluggish. Is that the reason?
As was explained, Q1, the rare earth problems. Because of rare earth problems, we were not able to manufacture. So, loss-making situation. At least in May, it has stopped. On top of that, the pricing pressure we are starting to see in the second half, production is likely to recover.
In that sense, last year, we had problems with starting up, but this year, we are facing this problem of rare earth. Please understand it that way.
Understood. Thank you. My second question I would like to ask Mr. Kainuma. In the past couple of years, in hindsight, the macroeconomic environment was not that good. This year, we wanted to recover, but it has not turned out that way. After COVID, the global electronic component business, the external environment, the pace of improvement was not that strong. The 100 billion open profit, I think maybe there is a kind of a wall that you are facing to exceed that.
The midterm numbers, you say that you're going to announce that later, but to be able to grow as you wish, the growth model in itself, how are you going to accelerate your growth? Even under this type of business environment, to be able to achieve the profit that you want to achieve. Organically, you want to do this, and M&A, you want to do these types of things. I think I know you have your ideas, but if this business environment continues in this manner, to be able to achieve the open profit that you wanted to target, what will be the things you have to do to narrow that gap?
Basically, within our product lineup, the best products or the business model they want to pursue will be the ball bearing business. $55.7 billion for this fiscal year.
I think the past high was $48 billion. I think basically, including aircraft, things are going as planned for this business. Allow me to say, I think this is wonderful in terms, under this business environment, that is, this business has been able to pursue the profit up to this level. The reason behind this is that the market is growing and our products have an advantage. I think these two factors play a major role. From that perspective, if you look at the other products, I have been, I think we have four spheres, so to speak: motors, semiconductors. From power semiconductors to analog semiconductors, it's not everything across the board, but for instance, ABRIC, the 30%, more than 30% operating margin, they have that level of operating margin. What type of products should we be focusing on?
I think that's the question. I think we have to go back to the issue of Shiba Electronics. The market is growing, the company is growing, and they are differentiated from other companies. How much can we expand those areas? In terms of AS, for the other European, for instance, automotive component makers and Brinks are going to, Brinks are becoming bankrupt, but they are able to get this level of profit. We have various types of products, various types of product lineups. I think you tend to look at things at a short term, but maybe if you just take a more longer-term perspective, I think in terms of our growth, we'll be accelerating that.
Any other questions? On the floor. The gentleman on the middle row, on the very front, please.
Goto from Mizuho Securities.
Thank you very much for your presentation. I have two questions. For the ICU business, you talked about things have improved, but in terms of what were the challenges and what were the countermeasures that you took? Can you explain about the results? You said that I do want to confirm whether these products or businesses will not be a risk for your business for this fiscal year. Again, this is a confirmation of the numbers. Ball bearing periods for the January to March actual and the outlook for the first quarter of this fiscal year. It seems to be the case that ball bearings is doing well right now. The background, why is it? Is it the kind of a front loading of the demands because people want to get their hold on products before the tariff issues?
In terms of the ICU situation, I think people are interested in this thing, and I think there's a lot of questions coming up about what I'm doing there. Every day, I'm going into the line, and if you conduct that business, in some cases, you lose the bird's eye view or the perspective, and you just focus on the details. For instance, the overall line balance and the small stops, chocolate, you try to stop that. To be able to solve the chocolate, they stick to the machines. If you set up a line, putting into assumption that the chocolate stops will occur, then things will become better. If you give your advice from the people working on the floor, they can understand this very smoothly.
I would not want to go into details because this will be revealing our know-how, but if you go to the lines every day and then talk about what I felt, and I get feedback from them about their challenges, and then conduct improvement. For instance, a certain important equipment exists. It is about JPY 50,000 per unit. If you make it JPY 500,000, it will become more precise. The people working on the floor try to do something with a JPY 50,000 machine. If I say, "You can use a JPY 500,000 machine," their feelings, people, the workers' feelings, they will be relieved. There are a lot of things that I have done. If I retire, I will write a book, but I cannot go into detail right now. For this fiscal year, you do not have to, we do not have to worry about that.
Rare earth issues is a kind of a concern. For the rare earth issue, it is something that was unprecedented and currencies. In terms of the mechanical components, they're doing well, but the supplied parts, we have to buy it in Japan, and then we send it over and then use it in the products. There is a time lag in terms of the products are delivered. If the yen appreciates, it means that this will have a huge impact on the profit. This potential or this structural issue, it resides in our business. That's the truth. For the subcore business, as I always say, we have this definition. They're subcore, not core. I think I have communicated that to you. We will do our best until the very end. Let's go to the numbers for the ball bearings.
Production, January, the stuff from January, 5 million, 288, 288. February, 273. March, 289. External sales, January, 234, 224, 257. Internal, 47, 44, 43. In total, 281, 267, and 300. April to June, outlook. The external numbers are going to go up. The production, 283 this April, 300 for May, June, 303. External sales, 255, 250, 254. Internal, 45, 45, 45. For pivots, the production, January, 10, 10, 10. Sales, 9, 10, 9. April to June, production, 9, 10, 9. Sales, 10, 10, 9. These will be the numbers. To mention about the background of the market for HDDs, as I've said, there's no major changes in the market condition. On the other hand, specifically for China, the so-called Fan Motor Data Center market, the recovery of this market for the January to March has been better than we have expected.
This trend is going to be stronger from April onwards. There is a marked market recovery that is happening. That said, going ahead, for Europe, is it going to be coming out for the end market, is it Europe or the United States or the China market? I think currently, China in terms of the end market is stronger. That is the data center business. For the automotive market, the content growth is happening, and this trend is not changing. For the third quarter, we think that the third quarter we are going to see good numbers, and this first quarter is showing the same trend. Did I answer your question?
March, I think compared to before, it seems that you are outperforming compared to before. The China data center business is contributing.
Yes, I don't know whether it's Deep Seek or not, but there's a strong need for these types of businesses.
Front loading, is this happening? Is there all this front loading, including the Trump tariff situation?
For ball bearings and pivots, front loading, there's no front loading of demand. The real demand is growing. For example, before the last minute demand, before the tariff is imposed, is it the reason why this demand is growing? I don't think that it's the case because we're looking at a different market.
Thank you.
Any other questions?
Akizuki from Nomura Securities. Thank you for this opportunity. First of all, please tell me the numbers. There are two things. The forex assumption for this fiscal year, 140 yen and 160 yen for dollar and euro. Sales and operating income, how much a negative value assuming?
Because of course, the currency is rather difficult to understand. The second thing is the sales to the U.S. What is the sales to the U.S.? The production, the actual production volume. If there is a gap between sales and production, how do you plan to respond?
First of all, the foreign exchange sensitivity. As we have been explaining repeatedly, we cannot disclose. Akizuki-san, please calculate using your model. It will be not so much different, I would assume. The U.S. sales in IR documents, we disclose our sales for each region, and this year is like JPY 340 billion. The bill to is included. In some cases, the actual goods may not be shipped to the U.S. yet. Excluding that, it will be JPY 160 billion. JPY 120 billion is built or made in the U.S. and sold in the U.S.
Slightly above, $40 billion is sent or shipped to the U.S. The front loading, how much requests that we received regarding front loading, it's not very clear. Not so much, I would assume, particularly Tier 1, that we are working on $120 billion. The competition is rather high in the U.S. The supply chain inventory is not likely to increase. OEMs may be making more than they need, but there is a capacity constraint. Therefore, I don't think they are making so much more.
What is sold to North America, Tier 2 and Tier 3? If supply chain ends up holding excessive inventory at this point, no major indications for the changes in the demand. The production, do you have a plan to increase production in the U.S.?
The gap is $40 billion, not so big, and probably the maintaining status quo would be all right. We need to consider this seriously. If the customers require us or request us strongly to produce in the U.S., then we will consider it. Whether we can sell the goods at an appropriate level, plus many other things that we need to take into account, and Mexico and Canada, the relations with those countries would also affect. Partially, we are considering the possibility to increase production in the U.S. Whether it is going to be a major change impacting the actual number, not so much. Our customers are increasing the production in the U.S. a little bit, and OEMs are increasing a little bit. Therefore, they are requesting us to produce a little bit more in the U.S., but not so much.
That is our current understanding.
My another question is, taking into account the current tariff situation, whether it would be better to change the manufacturing site or manufacturing location or not? You have global sites. Most of them are in Southeast Asia, and assembly and machining processing you are doing. Taking into account the tariff situation, production sites, do you believe you will have to change it, or do you think it is going to adjust naturally, and therefore you do not need to proactively change the production sites? I mean, roughly speaking, what is your thoughts on this? Making in China and exporting to the U.S. is very small, negligent. It is all right. What about the other places? Basically, bearings, Singapore 10%.
If customers request, so accountability duty in the past, it was imposed on made in Thailand, and therefore we shipped everything from Singapore to the U.S. If customers bear the cost, of course, we will accommodate their need. Completely the same type cannot be transferred to the Singaporean production site. It all depends on the customer's need and request. Cambodia may be higher than Thailand, but at this point in time, we are not thinking about changing production site. Probably we do not need to change anything at this point.
Thank you very much.
Any other questions? Please.
Thank you very much for your presentation. Hirata from UBS Securities. I have two questions. The first question is maybe this is an overlap with other questions, but this year's plan, MLS is going to increase the profit, and you talked about the improved mix.
So, hard discs, automotive, backlight, if you just divide it into these products, what is going to be the biggest contributor? If you can give us some color, I would be appreciating that.
In terms of the numbers, MLS previous year, so JPY 225 billion or so. So, JPY 8 billion of manufacturers was included. The base number should be JPY 216 billion. Against that, this year's plan is JPY 230 billion. If you compare these two numbers, it seems to be increasing. This reflects the segment change in the last year. So, JPY 216 billion is going to increase to JPY 230 billion. HDDs, we do not think that it's going to recover. HDDs will stay flat. Automotive motors, under this type of market condition, it will grow in some areas due to content growth.
As we have been explaining, year over year, 30%, we have been saying that before, we are not using those types of growth numbers. There are some areas that will recover. That will be the stepping motor margins in the new markets is going to improve. Fan motors, as I said, in the ball bearings market, because there are a lot of new needs that are coming up, and the market is very active right now. High margin products are being sold into that market, and that has been driving our profitability. That is the background of our numbers. I think these are the major reasons. The lighting devices. It used to be the case there had been the drag on performance, that would be the tablets. More than the break-even point, the production is going to increase.
In terms of the profit level, it's still a bit weak. Towards the second half of this fiscal year, these numbers will start to move up. There will be a contribution coming from this product. Including these factors, there's about a JPY 4 billion year-over-year increase of profit that can be achieved. For the smart products, as we have been explaining, the storage batteries market is very active. In terms of that, they will be continuously contributing to our profits. Automotive, HDDs, besides these products, maybe JPY 1 billion coming from these types of factors, and then that will lead to the increase of the profits. The smart products is a JPY 3 billion profit, but due to the segment change, that is one of the reasons. There's a reason why it's a JPY 4 billion increase. JPY 2 billion plus for last fiscal year.
This fiscal year, smart products will be about $3 billion of contribution.
Understood. Thank you very much. My second question is, in terms of the mechanical components, you said that they're going to come at it from the ICU. This year's share, assumption of the share previously. So, there were three players in this market. The second was you and the other companies. Are you going to back to that situation, or are you anticipating that it will be coming a third vendor for the actuators? If after the rare earth situation is solved, what type of share are you going to come back to?
As we have explained, we have, in terms of mechanical components, we were a bit late than the other competitors. It means that on a yearly basis, it is a bit, the share is a bit lower than anticipation.
If we go to the second half of this fiscal year, if we just look at it specifically for the second half, we will be able to go back to the previous share numbers. That is our assumption. In terms of OAS, as I have explained, the first quarter, there has been a very weak, but going into the second quarter, it will start recovering. When looking at the full year situation, in terms of the guidance, we will become a minor share. We will not be able to get a 50% of shares. That is the assumptions of the guidance. The numbers are very conservative in terms of our guidance. In reality, and how many sets are going to be sold, and the rare earth situation, there's still a lot of moving parts out there.
As Kainuma has explained, the base of the production will be established. If things start to go well, we do not think that the numbers will go below our current guidance. We can expect a better performance compared to our guidance. In terms of mechanical components, the numbers in itself are very conservative. Compared to the previous profit level, it is quite conservative. It is quite low compared to our previous profit level. In that sense, for this fiscal year, in terms of what is going to happen for this fiscal year, I think that will be the explanations that I can give you.