[Foreign Language]
Second quarter of fiscal 2025 ended September 30, 2024. For the second quarter, both sales and profit increased year on year. Overall sales increased due to increased sales in Lifestyle, Connect, and Industry, as well as currency translation, despite decreased sales in Automotive and Energy. By business, positive factors were Industry and Energy, with favorable sales of generative AI-related products, while negative factors were Energy's Automotive Battery Business affected by the year-on-year decrease in demand continuing for batteries produced in Japan and price revisions reflecting lower raw material costs. Adjusted operating profit increased overall, with increased profit in Connect, Industry, and Energy, despite decreased profit in Lifestyle and Automotive. Net profit increased, adding the improvements in other income and loss and other factors. Operating cash flows increased year-on-year due to monetization of the IRA tax credit through transferable method. As for the full-year forecast, the group-wide forecast remains unchanged.
However, the forecasts by segment are revised, reflecting changes in each business environment. I will explain the details later. Annual dividend is forecasted at JPY 40, a year-on-year increase of JPY 5, with a payout ratio of 30%, as announced on August 30. Now, the details of the consolidated final results for the second quarter. For the consolidated financial results, sales increased year-on-year by 2% to JPY 2,129.6 billion. Sales, excluding the effective exchange rates, remained the same year-on-year. Adjusted OP increased to JPY 122.2 billion, operating profit increased to JPY 132.2 billion, and net profit increased to JPY 118.3 billion. This slide shows the results by segment. In the following slides, I will explain the analysis of year-on-year comparison for sales and operating profit. First, the sales analysis by segment. In Lifestyle, sales increased overall.
This is due to steady sales of consumer electronics in Japan and electrical construction materials, despite decreased sales of consumer electronics in China affected by weak economy, and Air-to-Water in Europe, in which the rate of year-on-year decrease has become less severe compared to the first quarter. In Automotive, sales decreased due to such factors as discontinuation of production for certain models and sluggish sales, mainly in China. In Connect, sales increased with increased sales of Gemba Solutions due to steady orders of Process Automation by capturing certain investment opportunities, even with economic slowdown in China, and Blue Yonder with growing SaaS business. In Industry, sales increased with increased sales of products of generative AI servers, despite decreased sales of industrial use relays and Automotive use relays and capacitors due to market slowdown, mainly in Europe. In Energy, sales in In-vehicle decreased.
This is due to continuing decrease in demand at the Japan factory. In addition, sales value decreased at the North American factory due to price revisions reflecting lower raw material prices, despite increased sales volume. In Industrial and Consumer, sales increased due to significant growth of Energy Storage System for data centers driven by generative AI advancement. Within other eliminations and adjustments, sales of both Entertainment and Communication and Housing remained the same year-on-year. Next are adjusted operating profit analysis by segment. In Lifestyle, profit decreased due to lower sales of consumer electronics in China and Air-to-Water in Europe, despite steady sales of electrical construction materials. As for Air-to-Water in Europe, the year-on-year decrease amount has improved from the first quarter.
In Automotive, profit decreased due to lower sales and higher fixed costs, despite rationalization and price revisions to offset price hikes in parts and materials, along with improved product mix. In Connect, profit increased due mainly to higher sales of Process Automation and Gemba Solutions, despite such factors in Avionics as upfront investments and impact of delivery delays by slower manufacturing of aircraft, as well as deteriorated market conditions for media entertainment. In Industry, profit increased due to higher sales of products for generative AI servers, rationalization, price revisions, and effective yen depreciation, despite decreased sales of industrial use relays and Automotive use relays and capacitors. In Energy, profit in in-vehicle decreased only slightly.
This is due mainly to the impact of decreased sales at the Japan factory, increased ramp-up costs for the Kansas and Wakayama factories, as well as upfront costs for new customers, while efforts such as improving productivity at the North America factory contributed to reducing this decreased amount. Profit in industrial and consumer increased due to large contribution from increased sales of Energy Storage Systems for data centers and improvements in material market prices. Within other eliminations and adjustments, profit increased due mainly to improvement of elimination and income intercompany profits with the reduced inventories and improved head office income and expenses. Results of Lifestyle by divisional company. Adjusted OP in Living Appliances and Solutions decreased due to lower sales of consumer electronics in China. Adjusted OP in HVAC decreased, largely affected by lower sales of A2 W in Europe.
In Cold Chain Solutions and Electric Works, both sales and Adjusted OP increased on continuing steady sales. This is the year-on-year operating profit analysis by factor. From left, increased sales in real terms had positive impact of JPY 6.9 billion. Increase in fixed costs pushed down profit by JPY 18.7 billion, due mainly to investments in Energy for business growth and impact of inflation. The net impact of raw materials and logistics prices was positive, JPY 12.7 billion. The effect of price revisions and rationalization was positive, JPY 18.8 billion. Among other individual factors, impact of IRA was positive, JPY 0.5 billion. Decline of Blue Yonder is shown in the bottom right box. Adjusted OP on a standalone basis increased by JPY 1.2 billion on a constant currency basis. On consolidated basis, Adjusted OP increased by JPY 0.9 billion, excluding the impact of strategic investment and synergy investment.
Adjusted OP was up JPY 4.7 billion. Effective exchange rate was positive JPY 1.6 billion, mainly seen in Industry and Energy. As a result, adjusted OP increased by JPY 22.7 billion and OP increased by JPY 29.8 billion. This slide shows the situation of cash flows and cash positions. On the left, operating cash flow was JPY 457.6 billion, up year-on-year due to monetization of IRA tax credit through transferable method. Going forward, we will continue to generate further operating cash flows. On the right, net cash was negative of JPY 540.6 billion. Next is fiscal 2025 full-year financial forecast. This shows the full-year forecast for fiscal 2025. The group-wide forecast remains unchanged from the initial forecast of May 9. This shows the forecast by segment. Reflecting the changes in the business and environment, revisions are made as shown in the columns labeled Revised Amount from May 9.
This shows factors for sales and Adjusted OP revision by segment. Sales forecasts are revised at all segments, reflecting currency translation and business environment changes. Sales are revised upward in Lifestyle and Connect, revised downward in Automotive, Industry, and Energy. Adjusted OP is revised downward in Connect, revised upward in Other and Eliminations and Adjustments. However, the remaining segments are unchanged. The revision in Connect is made by factoring in the impact of delivery delays by slower manufacturing of aircraft for Avionics and costs related to M&A by Blue Yonder. The revision in Other Eliminations and Adjustments is made due mainly to improvement in head office income and expenses. This shows the full-year forecast of Lifestyle by divisional company. Adjusted OP revised downward in Living Appliances and Solutions Company and China and Northeast Asia Company, factoring in the impact of lower sales of consumer electronics in China.
Next, let me explain the status of our generative AI-related businesses, which are now rapidly growing. On the left, in Industry, the relevant products include conductive polymer capacitors and multi-layer circuit board materials for generative AI servers. By capturing the market expansion opportunity, sales are rapidly growing, and annual sales are expected to reach a level of JPY 35 billion, 1.8 x higher year-on-year. On the right, in Energy, with the expansion of Gen AI market, demand for Energy Storage Systems for data centers is rapidly increasing. Annual sales are expected to grow to a scale of above JPY 100 billion, also 1.8 x higher year-on-year. For both Industry and E nergy, the full-year sales forecast significantly exceeds the initial forecast. Growth is expected to continue in Gen AI-related market, so we will enhance our capabilities to ensure capturing such demands. Lastly, let me explain shareholder returns.
Today, the board of directors resolved that the interim dividend of JPY 20 per share for fiscal 2025, up JPY 2.5 per share year-on-year. For the annual dividend, we forecast JPY 40 per share, up JPY 5 year-on-year. The payout ratio relative to the net profit forecast will be 30%. We will distribute a stable and continuous dividend and aim to achieve enhanced corporate value through business growth and profit increase realized by our investments. Thank you for your attention.
[Foreign Language]
From Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Nikkei newspaper. Naganawa-san, please.
[Foreign Language]
Thank you. This is Naganawa. I hope you can hear me. Yes. Two questions. First, the focal investment areas. Heat pump, heating. What's the current status? What is the market situation? And the other area is EV. So can you talk about the current situation and future prospect? My second question. Well, this is the end of your medium-term plan.
In terms of operating cash flow, I think you expect to achieve the target, but not for others, it looks like. So with that in mind, what is your current take and any improvements that can be expected going forward?
[Foreign Language]
Thank you for your question. First, EV and Air-to-Water. Regarding EV, we have been saying that North America, mostly focusing on North America in our business. Globally, EV demand is slowing down, but in North America, compared to the past, the growth has slowed down, but 100%, about 110% or thereabouts has been the growth in units, so moderate growth. And at our plant in North America, depending on the situation of production in our customer sites, especially during the first quarter, we were largely affected, but towards the second quarter, about 0.5 GWh increase has been observed.
But our capacity is not at 100%, but third quarter onward, we expect the supply of batteries to continue. So in Q3 onward, with the current plant, we expect we'll get closer to the full capacity. And as is shown in the IRA, 38 GWh or thereabout would be the target of our capacity increase. As for Japan, for 1865 produced in Japan, we do not expect further decline, but we can't expect further increase either. And we are replacing the production line to a different model for 2170. So that's the current situation regarding EV, especially for Kansas and 4680 Wakayama plants, the new plants. We are making investments into those new facilities. That is for EV batteries. As for air to water, if you can look at page 29, towards the bottom, you can see the air to water situation.
And if you can look at the graph on the lower right-hand corner, in the first quarter of last year, we have seen a rapid decline. And for the first quarter of this fiscal year, we feel that that was the bottom. And towards the third quarter and the fourth quarter, in terms of year-on-year comparison, we expect flat growth for sure, as opposed to a decline. And that is because we are seeing improvement day by day. The rapid growth that we saw there is not expected, but at least we are seeing trend improving, as reflected in the results for the second quarter. And given that situation, for each country, we are embarking on new initiatives where we had not implemented initiatives for the medium-term business plan. The investment phase was where we were in, and therefore cash flow was our focal point, of course.
There are some issues that became clear. One is the low profitability and ROE, in other words, the return on the investment made. The absolute value is low, and the rates, the return was low. To address these aspects, we will be making efforts, and that has been the message from our CEO as well. By the end of FY2027, there will be no businesses that did not meet the WACC requirements. That is all.
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Thank you. Next from Gen-san from Dempa Shimbun.
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Gen is my name. Thank you very much. I have a very focused question about the Lifestyle business. The reasons behind the sales changes, the domestic consumer electronics did well. Looking at the consumer electronics in Japan, what were the products which have grown and how much was that growth? Could you give us some details?
Well, as for the consumer electronics in Japan, the industry as a whole is still faced with the difficulties, but the market share has been increased on our part. So a little like 1% growth in comparison to the previous year, that's the growth that we saw. So it's almost flat. And at our company, the washing machines, laundries, and cleaners, and a Palm-I n shaver, those are the products which are selling well. So as Japanese consumer electronics, I think we achieved high profitability. So you asked about the Japanese market. So as a whole, we have seen the strong trend in Japan. Southeast Asia is also recovering. Also, Vietnam, which is one of the major markets, we saw the upturn. And China is still tough. And that was very clear in Q1 and Q2. That is our understanding. Thank you.
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Thank you. Thank you.
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Next is from Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun. Morishita-san, please. Thank you. Morishita from Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun. I hope you can hear me.
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Yes. I have two questions. First, the impact of exchange rates. The yen is depreciating now, turning from a deep appreciation. So what is your current view and what impacts do you expect on your business? That's my first question. And my second question, the full-year forecast, how am I to read this? No major revisions from the previous forecast, but when I see the factors for the revisions, I understand that there is a slowdown in the domestic OEM production. Is that the factor? And if the overall full-year forecast remains unchanged, the slowdown in sales in domestic EV had already been incorporated, and therefore that is the reason why the full consolidated forecast remains the same. Thank you.
[Foreign Language]
For exchange rates for the second half, we have not changed the assumed rates for yen and dollar, 140 yen to the dollar, for euro, 150 yen to the euro, for renminbi, 20 yen. So that's the unchanged assumptions for the second half. As you know, the yen and euro have fluctuated by more than 10 yen, and the sensitivity, as mentioned at the beginning of the year, regarding yen and the dollar and euro, the yen depreciation would push up our profit, where for renminbi, mainly in Lifestyle, when we import, the depreciation of the yen against the renminbi would negatively affect us. But given the range at the current rate, slight increase, slight gain on exchange rates is expected. In any event, the currency effect, when they fluctuate over a very short period of time, of course, that's not good for our business, running the business, that is.
140 JPY-155 JPY, within that range, that's the assumption that we have in our business, that is against the U.S. dollar. As for the full-year forecast, yes, Automotive, that's a complete OEM business. Automotive OEM's production unit volume is a direct driver of our business. The production volume of the customers, when they increase, we make sure that we have sufficient supply. Currently, we expect the decline in volume. Through the reduction in fixed costs, we'd like to overcome that. As for sales decrease, the materials price related or linked selling price is the formula that we use. In the second quarter alone, 18 billion JPY is the size of the price reduction, it appears. In terms of volume, in our North American plant, we expect increase. That is not the factor for a decline in sales.
Overall, so there is the foreign exchange impact, and yet we are maintaining our forecast, meaning that on a full-year basis, we expect some decline in sales. But in the generative AI-related business and through the product mix, we can maintain the profit while the sales are expected to go down. And that is the reason why we are keeping the original forecast.
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Thank you. Next question is from TV Tokyo, Yamada-san, please. This is World Business Satellite. I hope you can hear me.
[Foreign Language]
Yes. Thank you. So you just mentioned the foreign exchange. I have one additional question on that. Today, BOJ had the meeting, and most recently, the yen has been weak, but slowly, the yen is strengthening again. So what do you hope for from BOJ policy? Are there any things that you'd like them to do?
Well, basically, strong yen or weak yen, that is not the purpose of BOJ , the government. How that government looks at the level of the foreign exchange is important. But from our perspective as a private sector, the range and the rapid change of that currency level is something that we'd like them to avoid as much as possible. So this time, it remains the same. So in the medium to long term, as Panasonic, the interest rate, the worldwide interest rate, to maintain it and gradually increasing interest rate is something that we assume in managing our company. That is our stance. Thank you.
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Thank you.
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I think it is time to end the journalists' session. So we will only take one more question from journalists. Again, only in Japanese. From Toyo Keizai? Umegaki-san?
[Foreign Language]
Thank you, Umegaki f rom Toyo Keizai.
In terms of the next medium-term management plan, is there a possibility of revisiting the portfolio of focal investment, especially in the industry? The generative AI-related, I understand, is very strong, and my understanding is that it's not included in the focal areas. Do you have any investment plans? Thank you.
[Foreign Language]
When we made that list, it's been 2.5 years ago, and so things have changed dramatically in society, and the investment speed is adjusted accordingly. So in terms of the investment areas going forward, just because the business is doing well doesn't mean we will be making more investments there. For maintaining these three focal areas is not carved in stone, so it's subject to change, of course. In the battery business, Panasonic is criticized for being very slow in making construction investments, so we've been very careful.
And the investment peak is behind us, so where would be the next investment is what we are revisiting.
[Foreign Language]
That is all.
[Foreign Language]
Thank you very much. That concludes the Q&A session for journalists. Thank you very much. Now we'd like to start the Q&A session for analysts and investors. If you have any questions, please let us know. We are only taking questions in Japanese channel. From Goldman Sachs, we have Harada-san.
[Foreign Language]
Thank you. This is Harada speaking. Two questions. First is in Energy. Are tax credits excluded? The first half and second half profitability is something that we are looking at. It seems that it's worsening. So with the tax credit, it's about 13% flat. So I would like to know the background. Is it because of the higher investments? Another second question is about the Gen AI. The growth is expected, you said.
Gen AI, I'm sure that there are a lot of activities going on, and the growth rate is shown here. With this realized, probably the growth rate would be much higher. The manufacturing capacity, would there be any bottlenecks? 1.8 x were mentioned. If it doubles or triples, probably that's more likely. If I'd like to know whether there is some impact expected. Thank you.
[Foreign Language]
In Energy, from the first half to second half, yes, it appears that way, but it is. In Wakayama, the mass production started, and right now we are in the verification phase with customers. There is cost related to that, and Kansas startup, well, rather than startup, we introduced a production line and operating it. By the end of fiscal 2025, we are working on that.
So because of those development activities, that would be occurring in the second half. So in terms of the balance between first half and second half, as Harada-san said, the investments would be necessary. So because of that, the number looks that way. Related to the generative AI, this growth is going to be big, but at the same time, the production capacity, so for example, the Automotive Battery, when we're making a lot of them, that's not something that we expect. Rather, something that the customers evaluate is the storage battery in Energy. So for example, creating a module and the thermal capability and also the higher density as a module, the customers evaluate our products. So number of the batteries is not so huge.
And of course, we will respond to the needs of the customers, and we want to make sure that we can manufacture them, and that is always in our mind. As for the investments and the volume, that is not really the case. And in Industry, the electronics materials and the conductive polymer capacitors, they are growing, so necessary investments are being made. In Industry, the investment is increasing. I'm sure you can see that. So the batteries, well, unlike batteries, which we need to prepare several years before and start it up, that is not the case. For the Automotive and also for the harsh environment, the thermal characteristics and so forth, we have been responding to that. And now that the generative AI demand emerged, so we are responding to that.
So we'd like to make sure that we catch up with such growth, and we believe that we can manage such increase.
[Foreign Language]
I see. Thank you very much.
[Foreign Language]
Thank you. Next, from Nomura Securities, Okazaki-san, please.
[Foreign Language]
Thank you, Okazaki from Nomura. My first question is on slide six, the second quarter results, year on year, others and eliminations getting better. I know that there are intercompany and others. Can you elaborate on that? It was not really clear. My second question is on slide 33, the Blue Yonder indices SaaS ARR, rather strong recovery. So booking is strong, I understand, but how sustainable is this? One Network addition, is that pushing up the overall picture, or is this attributable to the organic growth? Which is it? Thank you.
[Foreign Language]
For others, positive. There are two major items. One is inventory.
This is year-on-year comparison, so it's rather complicated, but in the previous year, inventory did not go down much, so with increased inventory, there will be the intercompany profit, which will have to be eliminated, whereas for this year, with the inventory control in place for the intercompany profits, the elimination of intercompany profits are being returned, and therefore, that is accounted for in the eliminations and adjustments, and that amount was quite sizable, and the other is the head office expenses reduction, which continues, and as a result, other eliminations and adjustments increased pretty strongly, and the other question, page 33, the Blue Yonder's KPIs. SaaS ARR. One Network has been consolidated as of August. So this 16% increase is not totally attributable to that, but our sales and marketing have been reinforced, and we are already seeing the effect of that in the second quarter.
So compared to the previous growth rates, we see an improvement. And on top of that, One Network Enterprises was a plus. Going forward towards Q3, the One Network, it's already part of the business in second quarter, and that will continue. Synergy will have to be incorporated, and the orders received by Blue Yonder to improve, we have that expectation, and therefore, SaaS ARR towards Q3 expects even greater growth. That answers your question.
[Foreign Language]
Thank you. Next is SMBC Nikko Katsura-san, please.
[Foreign Language]
Thank you. This is Katsura speaking. About the battery and also operating cash flow, I have questions. First, about the batteries. On page 23, 9.4 GWh I think, was mentioned. So based on that, December timeframe, about 10 GWh . So in that sense, toward next year in Nevada, that would be the level that we can expect. I just wanted to confirm that.
That's my first point. And the second question is about the investments. In Kansas, Wakayama, I think that in Energy, this year, you're going to reach the peak level next year and onwards when you consider free cash. So for this year, first of all, with the IRA tax credit and also the One Network cash out, and also in Connect, there was a sale. So compared with the beginning of the fiscal year, there have been pluses and minuses. So could you talk about the operating cash flow this year and the next year?
[Foreign Language]
Yes. IRA on page 23, in Q1 and Q2, there is a lack of strength, and we explained that. This has to do with the production module on the part of the customers.
It's starting up of the productions, and we are starting seeing the startup and the capacity that we have based on that. Right now, we are slowly operating. From now on, toward the full capacity utilization, 38.2 GWh is what we expect to reach. In addition, the productivity improvement is something that we are always working on. Toward the second half, capacity will be increasing. At the full utilization in the U.S., the factories which are operating, the capacity will slightly increase. That would be the image that we have. That's about the GWh . Second point is about the free cash flow. For this year, Kansas, Wakayama investments, we expected big investments.
So free cash flow, we want to aim for zero, but the operating cash flow, we have seen the solid trend, but there are some investments that we have already decided upon. So free cash flow probably will be negative, but we have not given up on reaching zero. Next year, rather than big buildings, introducing the facilities and equipment would be what we will be doing. And in Blue Yonder, more than 100 billion JPY acquisition was what we did, but the major investments will not be happening next year. So because of these, free cash flow will improve compared with this year. So that's what I can say, and that's the image that we have. Thank you.
[Foreign Language]
Thank you. Next, from Citigroup Global Markets Japan, Ezawa-san, please.
[Foreign Language]
Thank you, Ezawa from Citigroup Global Markets Japan. Two questions. First, related to Katsura-san's battery question.
Umeda-san, you talked about next year's free cash flow target of zero, you said, for the battery business. Might not be able to talk about exact amount, but given the current full year forecast for this year, with CapEx and depreciation and operating profit expectations, I cannot imagine achieving zero free cash flow in next year. So what are the elements that give you the confidence that you can get close to or achieve zero cash flow next fiscal year?
[Foreign Language]
Achieving or targeting zero, that was not for the Battery Business and Energy. I was talking about the entire Panasonic Group on a consolidated basis.
For the battery business, with Kansas factory, not likely to start the full capacity operation until FY2027, and therefore, the battery business, FY26 is when the facilities are built up, and therefore, for the battery business, the free cash flow would be in the negative territory. But the cash flow generated on a company-wide basis, as well as the investments as a net of those two, we expect a better situation next year than this year. That was my intent.
[Foreign Language]
Got it. Thank you. My other question, on a consolidated basis, your business results. In Q2, when you focus on July-September quarter, compared to your forecast, what was the delta?
During the first quarter, Umeda-san, you said that it was not really spectacular in light of the original forecast, and that indicated that you were lagging behind the full-year forecast, whereas this fiscal, this quarter, Q2, I got a different impression. So what changed in Q2 that made you sound more positive? And also, can you elaborate on the revised forecast? And compared to that revised forecast as CFO, where do you expect the upside opportunities as well as downside risks? Thank you.
[Foreign Language]
For July-September quarter, objectively, compared to the first quarter, we did make recovery to a certain extent. The positives were generative AI-related demand that I mentioned for Industry and Energy. They had a big impact on profitability. Generally speaking, it is high in this particular business, and that was one driver. And in Connect, Process Automation for implementation on those.
Again, this is a profitable, highly high profitability business. It had been suffering for quite some time, but this quarter, it contributed to increased profit. The Chinese government is implementing various initiatives to stimulate the economy, and I think that's one factor. As for process, there are still some uncertainties. We can't say that it has recovered for sure. Maybe what we saw in the second quarter was very specific and maybe not sustainable. So generative AI, that's certain to grow, continue to grow, and that's where I see the upside opportunities. And of course, we are looking at the latest situation to make the forecast. So regarding the full-year forecast, I expect each business to achieve the revised forecast. For Connect, the aircraft manufacturing OEM saw the worker walkout, the strike, and that could have an impact.
So there are some uncertainties making it very difficult to make very precise projection. Whereas in the Industry and Energy, the foreign exchange factor, I believe, would be positive to our profit. So some are doing better than others, but overall, we believe that the current forecast is at the appropriate level, and that is the reason why we retained the original forecast.
[Foreign Language]
Thank you.
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Thank you. Next, from Mizuho Securities, we have Nakane-san.
[Foreign Language]
Thank you. Hope you can hear me. Yes. Nakane speaking. Two questions, please. First, about Connect, operating profit about JPY 5 billion or adjusted OP. I think you made a revision. And Blue Yonder 4.5, could you give us the difference, the breakdown, 4.5 and 0.5? And is it related to the customer demand? I think the demand is strong.
Talking about the recent shipment and also the balance of the order, could you give us some numbers? That's my first question. The second, Air-to-Water. Maybe you can give me further details. Inventory adjustment progressed and sales increased. Is that the case? Or toward the winter, the demand, is it increasing more than the expectation? In addition to the inventory adjustment, the higher demand, is that something that you are seeing? Also, by region, are there any characteristics as a background? Thank you.
[Foreign Language]
Yes. In Connect, the lower profit, the reason for that is that Avionics is the major factor. The product delivery has been much lower. Based on the current situation, we have made a downward revision, and that was unavoidable. Also, but the project related.
The demand of the Olympics has come to an end, and also U.S. and Europe, the demand has been weakening. So that is weaker than what we expected originally. Also, Blue Yonder, of course, it is in the investment phase, including the restructuring cost and so forth, but mainly One Network acquisition at that time. The cost for that acquisition, in the original plan, we did not have that in our plan. So in terms of profit and loss, that is another factor which shows this number. So about the Process Automation, the demand, the balance in Q2 was very strong. Q3 and Q4, lower demand is what we expect. I cannot give you the specific numbers, but maybe the level of the Q1, it will be about the same level, especially in China, the labor saving investment and so forth. So we have already hit the bottom.
Q2 was strong temporarily. In Q3 and Q4, we are not expecting the major decline, but not much recovery. That's about Connect. The second point, Air-to-Water, as I showed you a chart, the actual sales volume in Q1, yes, the bottom right, we seem to have hit the bottom in Q1. Q2, every month is increasing. And most recently, that trend still continues. The inventory in transit increased or accumulated. Our production, the utilization rate at our factory was lower. But the inventories, with the adjustment of the inventories progressing, production from toward the Q4, production activities will be ramping up. That would contribute to the profitability. Last year, in Q3, Q4, it went down.
So in comparison, this year's Q3, Q4, it's not going to increase drastically, but the lower level of the previous year is not something that we expect. By region or by country, of course, that there is an impact of the tax credit or the subsidy, rather subsidy. So subsidy progress and some changes and concern in the subsidy, our competitors and other players also have strengths and weaknesses depending on the countries. And we also have some strength in some countries where we have reached the bottom and high demand. Aside from the specific name of the country, we will be taking the necessary measures so that moving away from the bottom level of the Air-to-Water. So that's what we are doing. Thank you.
[Foreign Language]
Thank you very much.
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Thank you very much. Now it is time to end today's briefing. Thank you very much for your participation.
We now conclude the second quarter.
[Foreign Language]
I'm going to show you the briefing.
Good evening. I will present the results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 ended September 30, 2024. For the second quarter, both sales and. Give us some numbers. That's my first question. The second in acquisition. We have already hit the bottom of the order. Could you give us some numbers? That's my first question. The second. So that's what we are doing. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Now it is time to end today's briefing. Thank you very much for your participation. We now conclude the second quarter. I'm going to show you the briefing. The cost for. Good evening. I will present the results for the second. Positive to our. Volume. Q3 and Q4, we are not expecting the major decline, but not much recovery. So that's about Connect.
The second point, Air-to-Water. As I showed you a chart, the actual sales volume in Q1, yes, the bottom right, we seem to have hit the bottom in Q1, so Q2, every month is increasing, and most recently, that trend still continues, so the inventory in transit increased or accumulated, so our production, the utilization rate at our factory was lower, but the inventories, with the adjustment of the inventories progressing, production from toward the Q4, production activities will be ramping up, so that would contribute to the profitability, so last year in Q3, Q4, it went down, so in comparison, this year's Q3, Q4, it's not going to increase drastically, but the lower level of the previous year is not something that we expect. By region or by country, of course, that there is an impact of the tax credit or the subsidy, rather subsidy.
So, subsidy progress and some changes and concern in the subsidy, our competitors and other players also have strengths and weaknesses depending on the countries. And we also have some strengths in some countries where we have reached the bottom and high demand. Aside from the specific name of the country, we will be taking the necessary measures so that moving away from the bottom level of the Air-to-Water. So that's what we are doing. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Now it is time to end today's briefing. Thank you very much for your participation. We now conclude the second quarter.