Thank you very much for joining us today for the PHC Holdings Corporation FY24 third quarter earnings call. My name is Hirata from IR and Corporate Communications Department, and I'll be the MC for today. I would like to explain a few points about the procedure of today's meeting. We have a simultaneous translation between English and Japanese today. Please find the globe logo from the bottom of the screen and find the menu for interpretation, and please select Japanese, English, or off. Off means original voice without the interpretation. And as for the presentation material, from the view option at the top of the window, you can select the presentation in Japanese or English language. T he individual microphones are set on mute because of the voice setting. The voice will be coming from a different channel, different account. Please keep that in mind. Let me introduce today's presenters.
Representative Director and CEO, Kyoko Deguchi. Corporate Executive Officer and CFO, Kaiju Yamaguchi . After the presentation by them, we have a Q&A session. Over to you, Deguchi-san.
[Foreign language].
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I am Deguchi, Representative Director and CEO. Today, we will provide an overview of the financial results of FY24 Q3 and also the outlook for the full year. I will give the executive summary, and our CFO, Yamaguchi, will provide an overview of the third quarter results as well as the full year outlook for this fiscal year. This is a year-to-date result for Q3. Revenue was JPY 266.9 billion. Although the impact of stagnant capital investment demand in the diagnostics and Life Sciences area, particularly in Europe and USA, has continued, the BGM business has shrunk more slowly than in the past. In addition, revenue increased by JPY 10.2 billion year on year due to higher CGM sales, the increase in demand for e-prescriptions in line with the domestic medical DX policy, and positive impact of Forex and the effects of M&A.
Operating profit increased by 22.2 billion JPY year on year to 17 billion JPY. In the previous year, there were significant losses at LSI Medience and others. We also had one-off costs such as restructuring. In the current year, in addition to a decrease in these costs, the healthcare solution segment benefited from an increase in high-margin e-prescription-related sales and the effects of cost reductions. Financial expenses decreased due to lower interest expenses compared to the previous year and lower foreign exchange losses. Profit attributable to owners of the parent increased by 18.8 billion JPY to 7.6 billion JPY. As the year-to-date results in the third quarter exceeded the internal plan, the full year forecast for operating profit has been revised upwards by 2 billion JPY. Forex assumptions have also been changed to 164 JPY to the EUR and 153 JPY to the USD based on current circumstances.
Although the positive impact of FX was factored in for the full year, we have decided to maintain a previous forecast for JPY 360 billion for revenues, taking into account a slower-than-expected market recovery in Europe and the USA. Our CFO will explain the increase or decrease by segment later on. Operating profit has been revised upwards to JPY 21.1 billion, an increase of JPY 2 billion compared to the previous forecast. This reflects the strong performance of BGM and healthcare solutions, whose results up to the third quarter have exceeded the internal plan, but from the outset, we have been actively anticipating an increase in profits in the fourth quarter due to the launch of new products and an increase in demand as market conditions recover, so in light of the current situation, we have prudently factored in a certain degree of risk for the fourth quarter.
Profit attributable to owners of the parent has been left unchanged at JPY 10.3 billion, assuming conservative tax. For the time being, there is no change to the dividend, which is currently JPY 21 for the interim and year-end, and JPY 42 for the full year. In line with the dividend policy announced in November, which we hope to finalize based on how the current financial year is going, our plans for the next financial year and the state of funds, we will be making the final decisions accordingly. Now, the next section is about quarterly balance of operating profit. Due to seasonality, the company's operating profit tends to be higher in the second half compared to the first half by a great margin.
At the time of initial planning of the current financial year, the plan placed more emphasis on operating profit in the second half of the year than the previous years, as the equipment market was expected to recover in the second half, particularly in the United States, and several new products were expected to be launched. On the left-hand side of the page, you can see the initial plan of operating profit in blue and the actual results up to the third quarter in white. As shown in this graph, operating profit up to the third quarter has exceeded the original plan. And based on this, the full year forecast has been revised upwards by two billion JPY. As mentioned earlier, in the fourth quarter, we have carefully revised our scenario, which had previously incorporated factors such as market conditions and new product launches in an aggressive manner.
In light of the current situation, we have made a careful revision. The progress of year-to-date results up to the third quarter against the revised full year forecast is 78% for operating profit. Main points of the fourth quarter in each business are listed on the right-hand side of the slide. For BGM, we have trends in key markets such as North America, and for CGM, user acquisitions through increased sales over 365-day sensor . These will continue to be the key. For LSI Medience, we have demand for allergy testing and efforts to improve profitability. For Wemex, we have capturing demand for e-prescription as subsidies expire at the end of this financial year. In the diagnostics and Life Sciences area, for Epredia, we have equipment sales in anticipation for recovery in capital investment demand in Europe and U.S..
For Biomedical, we have a promotion of sales in growth areas such as new LiCellMo.
Next, I'd like to explain the progress made with regard to the LSI Medience in appropriate quality management. Since the revelation of the issue two years ago, we have taken the reports of the External Investigation Committee and the recommendations and guidance from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Public Health Center very seriously and have been working on corrective and recurrence prevention activities. We have reported on the progress of our efforts to improve the points noted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Public Health Center from time to time and have recently announced that we reported to the Public Health Center on 30 January that our measures to deal with the identified issues had been completed and that they had accepted our report.
In addition, the application for the healthcare-related service mark, which was de-accredited in February last year, was accepted as a result of corrective and remedial measures and was re-accredited from the 1st of February this year following the review. We and LSI Medience will continue to work to restore trust by ensuring that measures to prevent recurrence and corrective actions are implemented and by continuing quality improvement efforts. Next, I will explain the progress of the initiatives to achieve the midterm plan. On the left, regarding CGM, in the third quarter, a product that can be used 365 days a year Eversense 365 was launched in the U.S.. This brings the global user base to approximately 6,000 users in 2024, an increase of 56% over 2023. The number of new patient shipments in December was the highest ever at approximately 600.
The number of prescribers, referrals from physicians, and transfers from other companies are all showing steady growth, leading to an increase in CGM sales in the current fiscal year. In addition, on the 6th of February, we completed the CE mark application for future expansion in Europe. We are progressing for further growth. On the right, in the diagnostics and Life Science business, we are accelerating our efforts in the CGM area. A joint research agreement has been signed with the Center for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine, CCRM, a global public-private partnership organization based in Canada. This is a joint research using the LiCellMo and automated culture device, which is under development. By bringing together the technology and expertise of both companies, we aim to further improve the efficiency of the cell medicine production process and cell culture technology, thereby contributing to the early expansion of CGT.
That's all from me. I now hand over to CFO Yamaguchi. Thank you, Deguchi. I will explain an overview of the third quarter results for the year ending March 2025 and then explain the revised forecast for the full year. First, about an overview of the consolidated financial results of the third quarter. Continued from the second quarter, in this third quarter, revenue and profits increased year on year in all indicators. I will give you more details of the status of sales and operating profit in each business segment, but in terms of revenue, growth in the healthcare IT solutions and pathology businesses contributed, and operating profit recorded an increase in all segments.
Profit before tax increased by JPY 26.3 billion year on year to JPY 12.5 billion due to the increase in operating profit and a decrease of JPY 4.4 billion in finance costs as a result of lower interest expenses and foreign exchange losses. Profit attributable to owners of the parent increased by JPY 18.8 billion year on year to JPY 7.6 billion. EBITDA increased by JPY 6.8 billion year on year. The difference between the increase in operating profit of JPY 22.2 billion was mainly due to impairment losses totaling JPY 16.1 billion in the LSI Medience pathology and diagnostics businesses in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA after adjusting one-off income and expenses increased by JPY 4.6 billion. I will explain changes in adjusted items later on. The exchange rate applied to Q3 year-to-date P&L was 165 JPY to the EUR and 152 JPY to the USD.
Both rates were significantly lower than in the same period last year. Page 12 shows the quarterly trends in sales and operating profit. As we have said in the past, due to the nature of our business, both sales and operating profit tend to grow in the second half of the year. Since the first quarter, revenue and operating profit have steadily increased compared to the previous quarter. Operating profit for the third quarter increased by 8.8% compared to the previous quarter due to the impact of increased revenues as well as the cost reductions. In addition, in each quarter of the current fiscal year, revenues and profit continue to increase year on year. Page 13 describes sales by segment and by business unit.
The business management Q3 year-to-date revenues landed at the same level as in the same period last year, including the positive impact of the foreign exchange rate. Excluding the currency impact, it was a 5% decline, but this time it has settled down to a 5% decline from minus 9.9% in the first quarter and minus 7.5% year-to-date in the second quarter this year. This is due to the slowing decline of BGM sales as well as the growth in CGM sales following the launch of the 365 days product. Healthcare solutions increased by 9.9% year on year to JPY 94.2 billion in healthcare IT solutions due to the effect of the acquisition of the electronic medical record business from Fujifilm in Q3 last year and strong demand for electronic prescriptions, which continued from the second year. Sales increased by 26.2% year on year.
Diagnostics and Life Sciences sales increased by 1.4% year on year to JPY 96.1 billion but decreased by 3.2% excluding foreign exchange effect. The pathology business performed well, but this was not enough to compensate for the decline in sales in the biomedical and diagnostics business. I will give an overview of each segment in more detail later. The Bridge chart on page 14 shows a breakdown of year-on-year changes in revenue and operating profit. The top chart shows revenue. Excluding a positive currency impact of JPY 8 billion, the growth rate was 0.9%, slightly higher than the same period last year. The revenue increased due to demand for e-prescription in healthcare IT solutions, demand effect, and strong performance of consumables in the pathology business compensated for the decline in revenue in the BGM business and the impact of stagnant demand for equipment in biomedical.
The graph below shows the breakdown of changes in operating profit in healthcare solutions and diagnostics and Life Sciences. Impairment losses of JPY 3.7 billion and JPY 3.4 billion were recorded respectively in Q3 last year. Respectively, in diagnostics and Life Sciences, there was a gain on sales of an associated company, but even including these effects, operating profit increased compared to Q3 last year. I will describe further details for each segment on the following pages. The foreign exchange impact on operating profit was negative JPY 400 million. In our initial plan, we expected the depreciation of the yen to have a positive impact on operating profit for the full year, but the impact of the yen's depreciation on cost recorded overseas mainly in diabetes management and pathology businesses was larger than the positive impact on profits, resulting in a negative impact on operating profit after the third quarter.
Now, I will explain an overview of revenues and operating profit by segment. I'll start with diabetes management. Revenue was flat while operating profit increased by 15.8% YOY. In BGM, the impact of the termination of sales collaboration in the USA and the shrinking market continued, but the extent of decline in revenue due to these factors has been reduced. CGM saw an increase in the number of users and YOY revenue growth as a result of the launch of the 365-day product in the United States. Operating margin improved by 2% YOY to 14.2%.
Operating profit increased despite lower profit margins due to change in the mix of sales channels and markets and the higher costs due to foreign exchange, but due to a reduction in the negative impact of the shrinking BGM market as well as the impact of improved profitability in CGM and the absence of JPY 2.7 billion in restructuring cost in the BGM business recorded in the same period of the previous year. Moving on to healthcare solutions. Revenue increased by 9.9% to JPY 94.2 billion. LSI Medience revenue increased mainly due to a decrease in COVID tests, but the impact of improper case was smaller than expected and an increase in general testing.
Healthcare IT solutions continued to see demand for e-prescriptions in the third quarter following the second quarter, compensating for the temporary drop in demand following the mandatory online eligibility check system in the first half of the previous year. There was also M&A impact contributing to an increase in revenue of 7.9 billion JPY YOY. Segments' operating margin improved to 6.3%. In the previous year, LSI Medience recorded an impairment of 12.7 billion JPY, and there was one-off costs of 0.8 billion JPY for restructuring and others, but even excluding these effects, operating profit increased by 3.9 billion JPY. Improvement in LSI Medience profit margin was due to higher revenue and cost reductions as well as higher demand for high-margin e-prescriptions in healthcare IT solutions. Finally, we have diagnostics and Life Sciences. Revenue in this segment increased by 1.4%.
Pathology business increased revenues excluding the positive impact of exchange rates, mainly due to strong sales of consumables in Europe and the USA despite the impact of market conditions mainly in China. Biomedical revenue decreased year on year despite the positive impact of Forex, mainly due to the continued impact of stagnant capital investment demand in Japan, Europe, and the United States. Diagnostics business recorded one-off revenue in the second half from the conclusion of a distributorship agreement, but revenue declined due to lower sales of a motorized drug delivery device, which was strong in the previous year. Operating profit was affected by one-off changes in expenses and increased amortization and depreciation costs.
First of all, in the same period last year, there was a gain on sale of the associate company of JPY 2.5 billion, while there were impairment losses of JPY 3.4 billion and restructuring cost of JPY 0.6 billion. This year, one-off gains of JPY 0.6 billion yen was recorded. Excluding the impact of this one-off on revenues and costs, operating profit increased by JPY 200 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased by JPY 1.2 billion after reversing the impact of increased amortization costs and the JPY 700 million net of foreign exchange. In the pathology business, the impact of higher revenues and improved profits and cost-cutting measures such as lower transport costs more than compensated for the lower profits in biomedical and diagnostics business. Page 18 shows revenue by region.
In Japan, revenue increased by 5.3% YOY, mainly as a result of lower sales in the biomedical and diagnostic business offset by demand for e-prescriptions and M&A effects. In Europe, a 1.6% year-on-year increase was due to the strong performance of pathology business and positive impact of exchange rates, which more than compensated for the decline in BGM. In North America, the impact of termination of the BGM sales collaboration continued, but the extent of the decline is smaller. In addition, higher revenues from diagnostic business, including pathology and one-off revenues, offset the underperformance of biomedical business, and the favorable impact of FX rates resulted in a 6.8% YOY increase in revenues. In the rest of the world, the revenue fell slightly due to soft market conditions in Asia, particularly China.
Page 19 shows one-off income and expenses included in the operating profit and reconciliation items for operating profit and adjusted EBITDA. Last year, impairment losses amounted to 12.7 billion JPY in the LSI Medience and healthcare solutions and 3.4 billion JPY in the pathology and diagnostics business, but this year we did not see anything big. From EBITDA to adjusted EBITDA, we see one-off costs related to structural reforms of 2.7 billion JPY in diabetes management and one-off costs of 0.6 billion JPY in each of the segments in the same period of the previous year. In addition, one-time gains of 2.5 billion JPY were recorded in the diagnostics and Life Sciences from the sales of the associated company. In terms of one-off expenses, we had 600 million JPY in diagnostics and Life Sciences. On a YTD basis, the impact of the adjusting items was basically negligible.
Moving on to the consolidated balance sheet. At the end of the third quarter, there were no significant changes from the previous year. Brief description of assets and liabilities. Balance of goodwill was JPY 210.5 billion, increase of JPY 1.8 billion because of exchange rates. Total interest-bearing debt was repaid by JPY 20.7 billion, bringing the balance to JPY 263.6 billion. Adjusted EBITDA multiple to total interest-bearing debt decreased to 4.9 compared to the end of the previous year due to decrease in total interest-bearing debt and increase in adjusted EBITDA. And the next cash flow page will explain the changes. Cash and cash equivalents balance at the end of the previous period. In the third quarter, cash and cash equivalents decreased by JPY 10.5 billion compared to the end of the previous year.
Operating cash flow was JPY 27.7 billion, whereas capital expenditure of JPY 8.3 billion, which is the same level as the previous year, and financial cash flow, including repayment of debt and lease liabilities and dividend payment, were negative JPY 30.7 billion. That's all about the actual results. I will now explain the forecast for the full year. As Deguchi mentioned earlier, we have made changes to our full-year forecasts. Revenue and profit attributable to the owners of the parent remain unchanged, but operating profit has been revised upward by JPY 2 billion. I will explain the changes in each segment on the following pages. The assumed exchange rates have been exchanged to JPY 164 to the EUR and JPY 153 to the USD, taking into account prevailing exchange rates.
The dividend forecast remains unchanged at present, but in line with the dividend policy we announced in November, we will make a final decision after carefully assessing the results of the current fiscal year, our plans for the next year and beyond, and our financial situation. The chart on page 24 shows a segment-by-segment comparison of revenue and operating profit with the previous forecast. Firstly, revenue. We expect full-year revenue to increase for diabetes management, reflecting the positive exchange rate impact and the strong performance of healthcare solutions up to Q3, mainly due to the acquisition of demand for e-prescriptions while for diabetes management there was advance of sales in Q3, so we have factored in some risk for Q4.
For diagnostics Life Sciences, reflecting the impact of stagnant demand for equipment in the results up to Q3, a certain level of risk has been factored in the market recovery and sales expansion of new products in Q4. Although there have been increases and decreases in each segment, the total revenue has been maintained. On the right-hand side, showing operating profit, although results up to the third quarter exceeded the plan in all segments, as with revenue, certain risks we conservatively factored in. For Q4, we anticipate a working capital reduction to improve capital efficiency, in particular inventory reduction and a partial deterioration in margins. At present, we don't expect any significant changes in the operating environment in each business, but we conservatively incorporate risks and have made an upward revision of JPY 2 billion.
Page 25 describes the changes from the previous year and the previous forecast in relation to the revised forecast for the full year, most of which I have covered, so I will skip the repeated explanation. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them during the Q&A session. Thank you.
[Foreign language].
Now we would like to open the floor for questions, and Koichiro Sato, Senior Executive Vice President, COO, and CSO, will be joining us to respond to the questions. If you have a question, please click the raise a hand button, and when I read out your name, your microphone setting will be changed. Please unmute yourself, state your name and affiliation, and ask your question. Max number two question will be accepted per person. If you have a question, please raise your hand. I will call out the name in the order.
First, Mr. Seiji Wakao. Yes, this is Wakao, J.P. Morgan. Thank you for this opportunity. I have two questions. First question about diabetes management, North American situation. Diabetes management was strong in North America in general, and by region, in the local currency, U.S. dollar basis, if you do the calculation, first, second quarters were flat, and in the third quarter, on the dollar basis, it seems that the revenue is growing. Is my understanding correct? And also, what is the current situation in North America? Can you give some color to that, please? Thank you for your question. This is Sato responding to your question. Current situation in North America, I would like to separate BGM and CGM. As for BGM, in North America, especially in Canada, we saw performance stronger than expected, and the factors behind this, there are basically two of them.
The first factor was, if you look at the whole Canadian market, we are actually gaining market share. And the second factor is looking at the demographics in Canada. From about 10 years ago, they have been promoting immigration policy, so the population is growing by about 15%, which is an increase in the number of diabetic patients as well. So some patients who are basically starting with diabetes treatments, they are getting BGM. So that is one of the reasons why North America is strong. For CGM, this is contributing to the overall revenue growth. From October and onwards, 365-day product has been introduced, and it's making a big contribution to the revenue. So this is why we are seeing general strong performance for diabetes management. That's my answer. Thank you. I just want to check if my calculation is correct. Revenue.
Local currency, first quarter, second quarter were basically flat, but in the third quarter, on a YoY basis, the revenue is growing. Is that the correct understanding? And if this trend continues in North America, do you think the revenue will bottom out going forward in North America? Based on the local currency, actually, Yamaguchi-san, we'll take that question. Yes, thank you. If you look at Q3 alone, Canada, YTD, is actually growing compared to the previous year in Canada. So in Q3, Canada did better from the same period last year, and CGM, 365 days product launch, contributing as well. So your calculation, yes, should be correct, I think.
And outlook going forward, of course, we want to grow CGM, and for Canada, we are doing the business planning as we speak, and we want to continue making efforts in this area, but we cannot really conclude that this upward trend will continue. But still, this is a very good market for revenue, so we want to gain market share and grow our business there according to our strategy. Thank you. My second question is about outlook for next fiscal year. The other day, you explained the MTP, and restructuring cost is included, and therefore, the operating profit may go down in the next fiscal year. Is it still the same scenario? Because I think the baseline is going up now, so can you please update us on your outlook for next fiscal year? Thank you. Yes, we are formulating the business plan right now.
Basic thinking, basic concept is for FY25, as you have just explained, restructuring cost will be incurred, and therefore, there is still a possibility of profit going down, but in FY24, we have seen strong performance so far. So based on that, we want to finalize the numbers, but the general trend, general concept remains the same. What about the dividend policy for next fiscal year? Is it still the same? Dividend decrease if the profit goes down? Well, we have the new dividend policy, and we will be adhering to that, and we will also use the capital allocation, which was announced during the midterm plan announcement, so no change so far. I see. Thank you very much. That's all from me.
Thank you, Mr. Wakao. Next is Hidemaru Yamaguchi-san, please. Thank you. This is Hidemaru Yamaguchi. Can you hear me? Yes.
My first question is about biomedical or diagnostics and Life Science. Global or CAPEX trend is my question. Originally, you expected recovery in Q4, and you made a plan for demand. However, it's not recovering so quickly. And at the same time, the Trump administration started, and subsidies now put on the agenda items or discussions. But overall, probably in the U.S., I think for this particular sector, trend is positive. But thinking about Q4, if it's not recovering, what are the background reasons? And I don't know what will be happening, but what is your forecast in the U.S. and currently sluggish CAPEX? What are the factors behind? And what is your outlook? Thank you very much for your question. In Europe and the U.S., regarding the CAPEX recovery, as you just said, compared to our original estimate, it's been delayed.
The measures to be taken by the Trump administration, we have been monitoring, and at the moment, we don't see any major impact to our company's performance. Out of CAPEX, equipment and instrument capital expenditures or investment are actually lagging behind. However, consumables are growing well, and on a year-on-year basis, it's been growing. That is the current situation of diagnostics and Life Science. Going forward, we would like to grow consumables and equipment investment recovery in the U.S. and Europe. Probably that will be expected to start from the end of Q4 to the next year, and we'd like to take measures towards that, and we'd like to also introduce new products, especially in CGT of biomedical. Going forward, to this market, the growth is expected, and we have prepared several products to be launched, so we'd like to accelerate our business in those particular areas.
Thank you very much. Next question is overlapping partially with Wakao-san's question about CGM. Originally, I think you gave us the number of users and KPIs you announced recently, and in some cases, I think that starting with this new CGM, 365 days equipment introduction, you are performing even better than those originally set KPIs, and at the time of 180 days equipment, you had been struggling with the situation. However, do you think that now you are better coping with this new product overall? Thank you for your question. Yes, there are two main points. One is that 365 days equipment, that is quite convenient that the only exchange once a year is needed, and also calibration. In the case of 180 days equipment, it has to be daily. However, it will be now weekly calibration for 365.
Those are positively appreciated, and from October last year, the momentum has been quite strong, especially in the channel for HCPs. The volume has been expanding substantially, and reasons are the two points that I have explained earlier, and those were quite appreciated by HCPs leading to the referrals. Thank you very much. Originally, I think 6,000 users in 2024 and 12,000 in 2025. And do you think that the situation will be moving on track compared to our original plan? It is a little behind in some parts, but I think the current momentum is actually showing us a good sign that we will be able to follow the originally targeted trend. That's all. Thank you very much
[Foreign language].
I can see Ms. Himaki Atsuko in the name, but is it Mr. Hayashi from Morgan Stanley? Yes, this is Hayashi, Morgan Stanley. Can you hear me? Yes.
Thank you. I have two questions. I'm sorry to be persistent, but diabetes management, U.S. sales, third quarter. Yes, the performance was strong. That was my interpretation as well. But in your explanation, you said there was some phasing from the fourth quarter to the third quarter, perhaps. So how big was this impact? Can you please tell us? That's one. And also, on this slide, CGM business profitability improvement is shown. What is this about? Can you please explain? Thank you. Yes. Phasing to Q3. Revenue in Canada was very strong in Q3, as I have just explained. And for Canada, some customers are closing their books at the end of December, which means that there was some phasing from Q4 to Q3 because of that impact. So that happened in Canada and Russia and some other countries. How big was the impact?
We cannot really disclose that, but Q3 performance was strong, and this was one of the factors behind that. This is why we believe that there is some risk for Q4. How much phasing or shift did take place? We are evaluating that internally, and there is a range, but Canada was impacted to some degree by this. With regard to CGM profitability improvement, revenue is growing solidly. That's one thing. Last year, revenue struggled, which meant that there was a variation loss on inventory as well, which improved in this fiscal year. Revenue is growing, and also at the same time, GP is improving because of this reason I have just stated. I would like to add, 365 days product pricing is different from the previous product. Margin profile has changed.
Compared to 180 days, the introductory campaign discount was also changed, revisited for 365-day product, which also led to margin improvement, and as Yamaguchi-san mentioned, we have better control over scraps, and the margin is improving. Thank you. Next question about LiCellMo and other new products and their impact. According to the beginning of the term forecast, you expected a lot of new product impact in Q4, but you have revised your forecast, and you basically went back to something that's more realistic, according to my interpretation. But LiCellMo and other new products, is there a development delay or acceleration? What is happening in actuality in terms of the impact of these new products? Thank you for your question. Development and launch for LiCellMo was as scheduled. Launch actually took place in September-October timeframe, and LiCellMo monitoring instrument is being impacted by the general market conditions.
In other words, compared to our original plan, as of now, we are underperforming. That is true. These are products for research purposes, which means that the sales cycle is longer as well. But as the instrument market continues to recover, we expect to see progress in this area. These instruments also need clinical evidence as well, and we are implementing measures for that. We are promoting joint research with multiple universities so that we can make a presentation at the Regenerative Medicine Congress in March. And for pathology, we are waiting for approval by FDA, and as soon as the approval is granted, we can launch the product. And this is why we believe that fourth quarter numbers should be kept at a lower level. I see. That's all from me. Thank you.
[Foreign language].
Thank you, Mr. Hayashi. Next is Ritsu Watanabe-san, please. Thank you. I'm Watanabe from BofA.
Can you hear me? Yes. Thank you. I'm persistent also to ask a question about diabetes management and also diagnostics and Life Science. I think that it's quite positive that you are adjusted with that. Looking at the actual situation, what about the margin level? This time, operating profit overall increased. However, adjusted EBITDA , it's still negative and the margin decreased. However, having heard your presentation today, towards the next fiscal year, margin will not further decrease. Is it your feeling now or after you announce the midterm plan? It's not a long time past. However, in terms of margin control, do you think that you are controlling well the margin and adjusted with that? What is your view or outlook whether it is bottoming down or not? Regarding the adjusted EBITDA and comparing it to the previous year, about JPY 1.5 billion, it's lower.
I think that's one view. And concerning BGM, margin control is relatively good, and the reason of decrease is because of the revenue decrease. So that's a foundational situation. And regarding CGM, as we discussed earlier, margin has been improving, so that makes a positive contribution. And going forward, CGM sales is expected to grow, then margin will further improve. And in that sense, we'll be able to cover the BGM decrease. So I believe our forecast is that this growth of CGM can be expected. So starting from the next fiscal year, we will be able to expect the margin improvement. Yes. And if I supplement, talking about the BGM margin, our view is that in the past several years, mainly in advanced countries, we saw sales decrease, but we increased our sales in developing countries. Therefore, this mixture also affected.
And in the midterm plan, we also gave you explanation, including developing countries. Basically across the board, we need to ensure a certain level of margin. So in that sense, we need to secure our cost control. And also, in the North American market, we have finished the sales collaboration. That impact will be diminishing, and also the impact in those product sales will be also diminishing. And in Canada, there is a promising situation in the market. Therefore, overall, centrally, in the North American market, it will be more stabilized. However, overall, the market is still declining, and that will be affecting to us. But as we explained in our midterm plan, that degree of decrease will be getting smaller, and also our profit decrease will be getting smaller as well in our view. So up to Q3, that impact has been experienced. Thank you very much.
I could understand it very well, so going to my second question about diagnostics and Life Science regarding how you are spending monies. In the midterm plan, the managerial resources should be focused onto those areas. However, looking at the financial results, this particular segment performance is poor, and the reason is overall market situation. Assuming that from the next year, if you try to grow this, regardless of the market condition or minimizing the impact from the overall market condition, you need to take measures, and that is probably to develop a new product and so on, and my question is that you are influenced by the market condition. Is it unavoidable to some degree, or in order for you to strengthen your businesses against the market condition, do you need more investment in R&D?
What kind of measures are you going to take so as to reduce the volatility or impact that you suffer from the market volatility? Thank you very much for your question. We need to take a business strategy so that we are not much influenced by the market condition. The Life Sciences and Diagnostics. They have a strong platform businesses, and also we have several promising products. Therefore, those will be utilized as a platform regardless of the market condition. I'd like to reinforce that. In the midterm plan, we also announced our business strategy. One point is CGT. The future growth is expected in CGT. In this area, in manufacturing process, improvement needs to be seen, or the cell therapy products' manufacturing processes have some mismatches or inefficiencies, and those need to be improved.
And in order to attain that, we need to provide services and products. And in that sense, we'll be shifting gears. And we just started our efforts in this particular area. Therefore, in three years of midterm plan and going beyond that, we'll be making efforts. And there will be a labor shortage in labs and doctors' offices. And we'd like to provide instrument services to help them out in Life Sciences, diagnostics, or oncology diagnostics areas like digital pathology or AI-used technologies. In those areas, we have already started making investments, and we are working with bioventures going into regenerative medicine, and we are generating evidences. And also, we have been conducting joint researches as we introduced with the Canadian CCRM or with the prestigious universities in the U.S., w e have some joint efforts. And how we'll be able to advance digitalization and make commercially available products.
We have started working on those a couple of years ago and would like to accelerate them. Thank you very much. Then, after the next fiscal year and beyond, your investment cost in P&L may look very much different or not. Well, yes, let me explain about that point. We need to strengthen our businesses so that we should not be affected too much by the market condition. So the recurring proportion of our business should be increasing. And talking about this fiscal year, every year, there is an increase of demand for instruments. That's strange. However, consumables demands are quite good, and that's been leading the growth since the last year. So together with the market growth, we would like to grow our consumables business as well. And including the cost, we would like to control well so that we'll be able to improve the margins.
Talking about biomedical, the consumable sales is limited. However, the fundamental instruments are our lineups. Therefore, once the market recovers, it will be recovering very quickly, and as Deguchi explained, we'll be also introducing new products into new areas, including consumables and also any promising future-growing products so that we'll be able to make a good balance. IVD, if we sell instruments well, then the reagents will be also sold well, so in the domestic market and also in North America and other overseas markets, we would like to grow. So basically, in the next fiscal year, there will be no abrupt changes in P&L factors or items. However, basically, we would like to accelerate what we have been doing already, and as we announced in our midterm plan, our investment basic policy is to use ROIC indicator.
How much return will we be able to have from our investment in Life Science and growing areas? For each one of the project initiatives, we would like to see this indicator as the investment sensitivity and would like to monitor well and control measures. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Watanabe.
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We still have some more time before we close the program. Are there any other questions? If you have a question, please raise your hand.
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We see no further questions. Thank you very much for all the questions we have asked, and that concludes the earnings call. Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to join this meeting.