I will go over the consolidated financial results of Panasonic Holdings Corporation for the first quarter of Fiscal 2023. First, a summary of the financial results. Overall sales increased year-on-year, despite the impact on production and sales of the Shanghai lockdown and shortages in semiconductors, parts, and materials, owing to increased sales in automotive batteries and others, as well as consolidation of Blue Yonder and the effect of exchange rates. Adjusted operating profit decreased, and as increased sales and price revisions and other efforts were unable to offset the impact from changes in the environment, including the lockdown, shortages in semiconductors, parts and materials, raw material prices, and higher fixed costs and other negative factors. Operating profit decreased, but other income and loss improved with reduced restructuring expenses. Thus, the year-on-year decrease in operating profit was less than that of adjusted operating profit.
Free cash flow was secured at the same level as net profit, although it was below the FY 2022 level due to decreased adjusted operating profit and increased inventories. In terms of consolidated financial results, overall sales increased to JPY 1,973.9 billion, up 10% year-on-year. AOP decreased to JPY 65.7 billion, down JPY 53.8 billion year-on-year. Other income and loss improved by JPY 13.1 billion due mainly to reduced restructuring expenses. OP and net profit decreased by JPY 40.7 billion and JPY 27.6 billion respectively, but the year-on-year decrease amounts were less than that of AOP. This slide shows the results by segment. Year-on-year variance analysis is provided in the next few slides. First, sales by segment. Overall sales increased.
Lifestyle sales were at the same level year-on-year as sales increased for priority businesses such as HVAC systems, European business, and overseas electrical construction materials, mainly in India, the Middle East, and African markets, to offset the decreased sales of consumer electronics in Japan affected by supply issues due to the lockdown and others. Automotive sales decreased, affected by reduced automobile production. In Connect, sales increased in Avionics, reflecting market recovery in the aviation industry and the consolidation impact of Blue Yonder, despite decreased sales in such businesses as Gemba Solutions due to post-Olympic demand slowdown and notebook PCs affected by the lockdown. In Industry, sales decreased due to semiconductor shortages, the lockdown, and termination of the semiconductor and LCD businesses, despite increased sales of capacitors for ICT infrastructure and automotive uses and relays for industrial and EV uses.
In Energy, sales increased with sales growth of automotive batteries reflecting robust EV demand. Among other eliminations and adjustments, entertainment and communication sales decreased, affected by component procurement issues, including semiconductors. Housing sales increased, driven by building materials such as interior doors, floor materials, rain gutters, and exterior wall materials, as well as Eco Cute water heaters. Next, OP. AOP decreased in all segments, and overall OP decreased as well. In Lifestyle, profit decreased, affected by such factors as the lockdown, increased sales of priority businesses, mainly overseas, and price revisions in Japan and overseas countered the deteriorated business environment, such as exchange rates, price hikes in raw materials and logistics, but not enough. In Automotive, profit decreased due to decreased sales and increased fixed costs, including depreciation, despite cost reduction efforts and price revisions to mitigate the impact of price hikes in parts materials, mainly semiconductors.
In Connect, profit decreased despite increased sales in Avionics due to decreased sales of notebook PCs and the Gemba Solutions business, raw material price hikes, as well as amortization of intangible assets related to the Blue Yonder acquisition and other factors. In Industry, profit slightly decreased, impacted by semiconductor shortages, the lockdown, the raw material price hikes. These negatives could not be offset by the increased sales of capacitors for ICT infrastructure and the effect of the yen depreciation. In Energy, profit decreased despite increased sales due to price hikes in raw materials and logistics, and increased development expenses and fixed costs for increased production. Other income and loss largely improved due mainly to reduced restructuring expenses. Accordingly, decrease in OP was less than that in AOP. Next, results of Lifestyle by divisional company. In Living Appliances and Solutions, sales decreased on constant currency.
Sales in Japan decreased, such as for microwave ovens affected by the lockdown and others, while overseas sales increased, mainly refrigerators and washing machines in Asia. Profit decreased with lower sales despite price revisions and rationalization to counter the deteriorated environment. In Heating & Ventilation A/C, sales increased steadily, mainly in Europe, while profit decreased largely due to negative impact of exchange rates. In Cold Chain Solutions, both sales and profit increased with steady sales, mainly for showcases in Japan and the U.S.
In Electric Works, both sales and profit increased with steady sales of overseas electrical construction materials, mainly in India. This is our operating profit analysis by factor. From the left, sales expansion increased profit by JPY 1.5 billion, despite such negative factors as the Shanghai lockdown and semiconductor shortages. Fixed costs pushed down the profit by JPY 19.6 billion. This is due to the increases required by business growth initiatives such as depreciation and R&D expenses. Price hikes in raw materials and logistics pushed down the profit by JPY 56 billion, while price revisions and rationalization and others pushed up the profit by JPY 27.3 billion. The consolidation impact of Blue Yonder was a decrease factor of JPY 7 billion.
Blue Yonder's adjusted operating profit was positive, but with the amortization expenses related to the acquisition, as well as other factors, it was negative on the consolidated basis. The overall forex impact was minor, totaling zero. It was positive for Industry and Energy, but negative for Lifestyle. As a result, adjusted operating profit was down by JPY 53.8 billion. Other income and loss was an increase factor of JPY 13.1 billion, and operating profit was down by JPY 40.7 billion. Next is free cash flow and cash positions in Q1. The free cash flow was down year-on-year due to the lower adjusted operating profit and increase in inventories. However, we were able to secure JPY 48.3 billion, the same level as the net profit, mainly through the improved working capital.
With regard to cash generation from Q2 and onwards, we are continuing to make efforts to reduce the higher inventories that are affected by external factors and the control of the inventory level of strategically secured parts and materials. On the right, net cash is shown. It was -JPY 635.3 billion, an improvement from the end of FY 2022. Next is the impact from changes in the business environment. This shows the impact on each segment by four elements, changes in demand, shortages in semiconductors and parts and materials, Shanghai lockdown, and price hikes in raw materials and logistics. The light blue shows factors with a positive impact, and the pink areas show a negative impact compared to FY 2022. The top half shows the results of first quarter FY 2023, and bottom half explains the outlook for the situation in Q2 and onwards.
In Q1, each segment was significantly impacted by shortages in semiconductors and parts and materials, the lockdown, and price hikes in raw materials and logistics. From Q2 and onwards, such factors are expected to lessen with the end of lockdown. However, the impact of the shortages in semiconductors and parts and materials, as well as price hikes in raw materials and logistics are expected to remain. We will implement countermeasures such as alternative procurement and price revisions to mitigate the impact of those factors. Now, let me explain our view based on the trends of quarterly results. The graph on the left starts with the FY 2022 Q1. Since Q2, the impact of semiconductor shortages and raw material price hikes has been significant, which led to low profitability. Also, recently, we have faced the impact of the lockdown, making business environment more difficult.
However, as you can see on the top right, if we look at the Q1 of FY 2023, the monthly adjusted operating profit, the situation significantly improved in June when the lockdown was lifted. The prolonged weak situation turned to a recovery trend after hitting the bottom in May. Today, each operating company is accelerating its initiatives to enhance competitiveness. We expect the performance in Q2 and onward to shift toward recovery through our efforts, such as thorough enhancement of operational capability, higher sales of energy and heating ventilation A/C, and further efforts in price revisions to counter raw material price hikes. This is my final slide. After the launch of our new structure in April this year, we announced our group-wide medium to long-term strategies as well as those of each operating company. We are making steady progress with assessment and execution of each initiative based on the strategies.
For the material matters in supply chain management and automotive battery businesses, we have disclosed and communicated information when the decisions were made. During the second half of FY 23, we plan to have briefings on the individual businesses in Lifestyle. As we proceed with the medium to long-term strategy, we will make announcements on individual measures at both group-wide and operating company levels in a timely and appropriate manner. Thank you for your attention.
From Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, Ohara-san. Thank you. Ohara from Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun. I hope you can hear me.
Yes, we can. Thank you. I have two questions. First, regarding the results and the outlook. Compared to the forecast you announced in May, you have not made any changes despite the changes taking place in the business environment. Can you tell us the reason why you haven't changed the outlook, the guidance? In your presentation, you said that you expect the results to bottom out in May. In relation to that, can you explain the reason why you haven't changed the outlook? My second question. The government is talking about restarting the operation of nuclear power stations and others so as to address the power shortage possibilities in Japan. The basic policy of the government is to control the soaring energy prices.
I wonder if you have any comments or requests on the part of the industry regarding this government policy.
Thank you for your questions. Your first question about the guidance outlook. Of course, at each of the operating companies, the annual forecasts we have aggregated them, which are shown in the latter part of the presentation. It is, although it is shown in the qualitative manner, that's what we are sharing. In terms of KGI, given the trend that I mentioned earlier, we did not feel the need to modify, revise the annual outlook. Although pertaining to the foreign exchange, maybe we could have changed, revised, but for the time being, we decided to keep the original forecast.
As for the first quarter results on a year-on-year basis, it may appear to be weaker, but, we are focusing on the trend that I mentioned earlier. JPY 100 billion in a single quarter, that was, for the first time, since 2007, the Lehman Brothers crisis. That was the figure for last year. Other than that, we have seen the first quarter exceeding JPY 100 billion. That is the answer to your first question. Now, regarding the electricity and the energy price hikes, the request that we might have of the government. Well, as a company, I don't think, we're in a position to, make any statements one way or another.
We are working with Kansai Electric Power Company and others in terms of promoting the procurement of the renewable energy sources. We'll just be focusing on what we can do as a company. That's all. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Next, Naganawa-san from Nikkei.
Yes, this is Naganawa from Nikkei. I hope you can hear me. Yes. Thank you. First, about Connect or about the Blue Yonder, I have a question. Here, the acquisition has ended and there is a major amortization. It's about a negative JPY 7 billion. This is something that is going to continue. How do you make a profit in Connect business as a whole? This could be a very heavy burden, so what do you think of that?
Also, the listing or creating the new company is being discussed, so maybe you can touch upon that. That's my first question. The second is about the price revision. With the higher materials cost, and maybe 50% of that is reflected on the prices. From now on, home appliances from August, we hear that you might be increasing the prices. Aside from the home appliances or home electronics, what are the areas that you need to increase the prices?
Thank you for your questions. First, about the Connect, Blue Yonder, JPY 7 billion negative. As I showed you on one of my slides, this has to do with amortization of intangible assets. In Q3 last year, we announced that one time with the acquisition, the accounting procedure.
In simple terms, the Blue Yonder itself is profitable business. At the time of the acquisition, this business had already incorporated the profit. It's really a technical matter. It's about JPY 4 billion. That is, it was positive, but on the consolidated basis it's offset or it turns negative. There is a amortization of that. That is the background behind the JPY 7 billion, again, negative number. From now on, this will improve. That's about the Blue Yonder. About the listing or the direction of the listing, we have already announced, made announcement on this. There is. It has to do with the regulation before the listing, so I unable to give any comments on the potential listing in the future.
As for the price revisions, on July 20, in the Lifestyle business, with the new scheme, announcement was made. From August timeframe, we have already made a press release that we will be increasing the prices of the home appliances. We are very sorry to say, but we'll be doing that. This will become effective in Q2 and onwards. The impact of the prices, about JPY 45 billion or so. That was in Q1, in relation to the raw materials. With the price revisions, about the JPY 23 billion. Through the price revision, we have recovered JPY 23 billion. If I may comment on this, the Lifestyle business is the biggest in terms of weakness in price revision.
We made the progress of the price revision in Industry and also Energy. That's the pattern. In Q2, Q3, and Q4, the spike or the high material cost year-on-year increase, we would continue to see this. We expect that. The price revision will become more effective. That coverage ratio is currently 50%. In Q2, Q3, Q4, we expect that percentage to improve. Especially the major one is the Lifestyle business. That is where we will be able to recover the earnings with the price revisions. One point of clarification. In Connect, JPY 7 billion has to do with the amortization of the intangible assets in Q2 and onwards. This includes the technical factor, but this will come down to JPY 3 billion level. Is that the correct understanding?
Well, about the Blue Yonder, talking about the future has to do with the regulation before the listing. There are some restrictions. In Q1, the actual, as I mentioned, it was a pure technical factor, and it's worsened about JPY 4 billion. This would be alleviated or mitigated. At the same time, as for the sales, on page 17, as you can see, it's steadily growing. This deficit number will improve and will turn to the positive or the profitable business. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Thank you. Next is from Bloomberg, Mochizuki-san.
Thank you. Mochizuki from Bloomberg. I hope you can hear me. Yes? I have a question regarding the price hikes, price revisions in household appliances. You said that for second quarter, third quarter onward, things are going to get better. But when it comes to the upstream of the supply chain, or the material prices, I think the secondary, tertiary price revisions are taking place, which means increased cost. I wonder if already announced price hikes in August and September would be sufficient, or do you see a possibility of further rounds of price hikes?
Well, it's hard to predict about the future, but, of course, Q2, Q3, Q4, the raw material price hikes are being expected. Now, would it expand? Currently, the copper price, over $10,000 per ton, down to $8,000 or thereabout. Aluminum and others, those, material prices have come down compared to one point in time. Still, instead of counting on those, lower, prices, we are expecting, the price hike impact, on the full year basis, in our forecast. Most, is in the Lifestyle business area. It is with that in mind that, we are planning to implement the price hikes, price revisions. Should we see further changes in the environment, of course, first, we will try to absorb that through our efforts, but we may need to take further actions.
That would all depend on how things will turn out.
I see. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Next from Sankei, Kuwajima-san.
Kuwajima speaking. I hope you can hear me. Yes. About the price increase of the home appliances, you mentioned that you would revisit this based on the situation. Do you mean the price increase or in different ways? For example, on the first of August and onwards, there could be some different genres of the home electronics. The range, would that range be expanded? And also in May, you mentioned that you hit the bottom in May. Hitting the bottom, the higher material cost and parts cost have come down, you mentioned. But once again, the biggest factor and the reason why you think that now you have hit the bottom in May, could you explain that once again?
Yes. Maybe.
Well, I don't want to cause any misunderstanding, so once again, let me explain. What we have announced about the price increase of the home appliances. This, we believe, is the best possible way as of now, so we are not saying that we would make any changes to that. Having said that, if there are any major changes in the environment, it is possible that we will make changes. That's what I meant. We are not saying that we are thinking about the making changes about the price increase. Whether to increase the prices or not, we have to consider whether products are competitive. We have a new scheme where that we have a responsibility for the inventories and the life cycle of the products.
It's not for a year, but rather we would like to provide more value to the customers, and we want to spend our resources to enable that. We want to create such a virtuous cycle. This new scheme will be applied to the products, and we want to increase the number of the products that comes under the new scheme. That's the meaning of this. That's my answer to your first question. The second question, on page nine, we are showing the qualitative information and the raw material price hikes. We are not saying that it will get better next year, but the similar impact is going to be expected as we did in the past. We had a lot of pink areas, mainly due to the lockdown in Shanghai.
In China, and also there were supply from China to Japan, and also there was an impact on in the car business. In the Q2, the bottom half of this slide, this is our prospect. Now we have a small pink area, and we have the wider blue, and more stable situation is shown in white. On the following page, this shows the trend in Q2, Q3, Q4 coming down. Especially, if you compare it with the year before, we would not expect to see the trend that we saw in Q1 last year. That's what I meant when I said that we hit the bottom in May. For the full year forecast of each operating company, they are likely to get better.
That's the background behind this scheme. Thank you.
One point of clarification. You talked about that this new scheme about the prices. Price revision and this new scheme, are those two new wheels to go forward?
Well t he new scheme and the higher value for the customer, those two are the things that we want to realize. When you talk about the price revision, new scheme and current products, and when we have launched a new product, we want to increase the prices. Not all of them, but for some products that are being launched, we will have the higher prices than before. Thank you.
Thank you. We're coming close to the end of the allotted time. We have three individuals raising hands, so we'll take one question per person. Hatanaka-san from The Asahi Shimbun, please.
Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes, I can. I'm from The Yomiuri Shimbun, Hatanaka. One question. The COVID-19 infection situation, the new cases are increasing again.
In terms of impact, in page 9, for example, Avionics, the aviation industry is recovering, it says, but there could be some impact continuing from COVID-19 going forward. Q2 onward, what is your projection of the possible impact of COVID-19?
The Avionics business. The first quarter results show compared to FY20, that is before COVID-19, for domestic and international flights, we have already the industry has recovered to 70% of that level. For domestic flights, higher in the U.S. and North and South America. For international, Europe, U.S. and Middle East flights, are back to about 60% of the pre-COVID level, but overall about 70%.
Although Avionics are seeing an increase in profit, and this is because of flight operation recovering, the operational services sales are increasing for other factors. COVID-19, well, of course, we don't know about way down the road, but looks like the situation is worse in Japan right now. This morning, the number of new cases in Japan topped the list globally. I think I saw that news this morning, the largest number of new cases in Japan. Of course, everyone is being very careful. As far as our business is concerned, there will be some businesses that will be affected, while other businesses will benefit from the support from the customers. It varies. Regarding the COVID-19 impact, we are not paying particular attention to what the possible impact would be on our businesses. Thank you.
Next, Gen-san from Denki Shimbun. Please ask one question.
Gen from Denki Shimbun. Thank you very much. I hope you can hear me.
Yes.
One question. Earlier, the pricing new scheme about the home appliances in Japan, I think has created a certain controversy. I think that you focused on bringing happiness to three parties, the buyers that are in community. How do the distributors are responding to this new scheme? If you are getting any information, Mr. Umeda.
Well, whether or not this starts to function well, I think it would be good for buyer, seller, and communication. It requires very detailed explanation, communication. Of course, with the distributors, you asked the question. Whoever it is, I think that the price should be the same. If that is the case, that the stores would be just like showrooms, and it would no longer be a price negotiation. The products with the lower prices will be advantageous. There are different opinions about that. This new scheme, price at a reasonable level, should be stabilized, and we want to support and help customers truly, and we want to spend our resources to enable that.
By creating such a virtuous cycle, I think, we can create the situation where we can please the three parties, buyer, seller, and community. That's what Shinada-san said, and of course understand that there are different views. We will continue to provide the full communication and detailed communication. Thank you very much.
The last question from journalist from Kyodo News, Watanabe-san, please. We ask you to limit your questions to just one question, please. Thank you. Watanabe from Kyodo News. I hope you can hear me.
Yes, we can. Okay, one question about Connect. Looking at slide 17, Blue Yonder KPIs. Regarding revenue, Q1 figure seems to be going down, meaning it appears that the profit is going to go down. Maybe there is no impact of the logistics cost increase, but I wonder what the factors are.
As for Q2 onward, what kind of changes do you expect?
What's shown on slide 17, the numbers there, they are in millions of U.S. dollars. You can compare on an apples-to-apples basis. On the left, upper left, $272 million last year, up to $309 million this fiscal year. The revenue itself grew. What's shown on the lower left-hand side, this is for SaaS, software as a service, recurring revenue. On the upper right-hand side, you can see the recurring ratio, and you can see that it has flattened. For example, 68.8% in Q4 2022, to 68.3% in Q1 2023. This is because of an increase in license selling business. It makes it appear that the recurring ratio went down.
As a profit model, the content of the recurring ratio, the annual contract for software, being paid on a monthly basis, those new contracts and the service maintenance fees, those are the two elements that constitute this. 108% in Q1 from the previous year, software as a service, the SaaS new contract acquisition based on the recurring basis, that has increased. It's not that the growth rate has declined. The value, the amount itself is increasing. Because the amount is increasing, it makes it appear that the growth rate has moderated somewhat. Now, Q2 onward, there is a concern of recession on a global scale. The investment priorities on the part of the customers may be affected. That's one concern that we have.
For the time being, that is our current projection, what's shown on slide 17. I see. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes the questions from journalists.
Thank you very much. Now we are taking questions from analysts and investors. If you have any questions, please use the Raise Hand button. We are only taking questions in Japanese. Thank you for your understanding.
From JP Morgan, Ayada-san. Excuse me. This is Ayada speaking from JP Morgan. Two questions, please. First, on page nine, you're showing the impact from the management environment, the changes of it. You're not making any changes to the full year guidance, but compared with three months ago, I think that macroeconomically the direction has changed. What are the areas that could change for the full year guidance? You don't have to talk about all segments, but for example, Lifestyle, Automotive and Industry, the customers and the distribution inventory, are you seeing any changes or you're not making any changes to the full year guidance, but are there any areas that you really need to catch up?
The second question, on page seven, the profit increase and the decrease, you touched upon this, but the raw material cost and logistics are JPY 56 billion in Q1, so JPY 184 billion full year. As you said, the market assumptions are also changing. The way of thinking, for example, if the prices at the current situation continues, this JPY 180 billion negative impact, how would that change? That means that about the raw materials, you have already probably made a reservation, so it would be just an impact in Q4. Or for the logistics, maybe this would be more obvious in the following year. Or maybe from Q4 you will start to see the effect. Maybe you can talk about those areas.
Thank you. Page nine, the changes from the past.
First of all, about the Shanghai lockdown in Q2 and onwards, it will change. About the raw materials, the hike, there are some materials which the prices went up. For example, lithium price has stayed at the high level. We want to make sure that we will take the countermeasures about the prices. In operating companies now after ending the Q1, in Q2 and onwards, they are likely to manage well. The demand changes. How would that change after Q1? Now, through the media, TSMC announced that for PC and smartphone, the demand for those more recently, of course there is a shortage of the semiconductors, but from the second half of this year it'll get better. That's what the TSMC said, and that's what I saw through the media.
From the industry business of ours, we are getting the similar information. That's just the information though. All the semiconductors are quite tight in supply, but the leading-edge ones and also the large-scale ones, there could be some relocation from the leading edge to the larger scale. We are hearing that too. In automotive, the production has been quite tough, and this could continue, but there could be some signs of changes. Concerning demand, what we are concerned about is the global economic recession, whether that could happen or not. If that happens, when do we see that happening? That's something that we analyze the information internally so that we can reflect or factor that into our guidance. That's my answer to your first question.
The second question on page seven, JPY 56 billion for the first quarter, so JPY 180 billion for the full year. Of course, we don't know until it's over, but the raw materials prices, probably it will continue to be at a level, and also the price revisions that we will be making. Higher materials cost and also the rationalization and price revisions, we have to look at both of them. In Q2 and Q3, we have to make sure that we take those countermeasures against the higher materials cost. I hope those answered your question. Thank you.
Next is from Morgan Stanley, MUFG. Ono-san, please.
Thank you. Ono from Morgan Stanley. My two questions. First, at the beginning of the fiscal year, Shanghai lockdown impact was not included in your annual guidance, you said. When I look at the waterfall chart on slide seven, it does show that through the price revisions you've covered that. Is it that because the measures you took were enough to make up for the impact of Shanghai lockdown, you're not changing the annual guidance? That's my first question. Secondly, in your monthly breakdown, you're showing that there was a huge recovery in June.
If this could be verified, do you feel that it's gonna be a good month in July as well, or do you still see possibilities of further fluctuations, and therefore you're not really assured of the future course? What about the risks of the white turning to pink in slide 9?
Thank you for your questions.
At the beginning of the year, the Shanghai lockdown impact was not included in the guidance. After the fact, well, it's really hard to say, but Shanghai lockdown and semiconductor shortages, about, over JPY 20 billion negative impact on the profit is how we analyze the situation. Through increased sales, we try to make up that, and we were successful in doing that, as you can see in this graph. That is what we try to show in that waterfall chart. April, May, June situations. On a monthly basis, July and August, due to seasonality, the air conditioners and refrigerators sales tend to increase. It's really hard to say, but. Now we're shown on slide nine. These are the assumptions that we have in not modifying, revising the guidance.
We felt that there was no way we can make accurate revisions. Now, are there still some concerns? That is your question. What are the strengths and weaknesses were some of the questions asked earlier. In terms of Automotive, on the annual basis, you know, the guidance initially, the impact of reduced production in automobiles was rather sizable, and therefore we do foresee a more dimmer situation. But for Lifestyle, things are moving as we projected, that is as of June. Through the price revision and other measures, as we have announced, we feel that we can secure this. At least that's what we're gonna try. Industry. At the current situation, we feel a bit bullish.
There is a question of should or would there be any recession, and if so, when? That's what we are paying attention to. We haven't changed the foreign exchange rate assumptions either. Those are the basis of our projection. Energy. The reduced profit from the very beginning, we felt that in the first half, we will not be able to recover, and we were planning to recover in the second half, not in the first half. Looking at the results in the first quarter, things are moving as we predicted. Currently, overall, Automotive is slightly weaker than we projected, but other businesses are doing stronger than our projection. Overall, we felt that we can't really revise the guidance. Hope that answers your questions.
Yes. Thank you.
Next. Mr. Okazaki from Nomura Securities.
Thank you very much. This is Okazaki. About energy, the Q1 profitability, that is where I have a question. About energy, the raw material cost increase was tough, but in comparison to the previous quarter, the profitability was up. The price revision went well, or in terms of profitability it has improved quarter-on-quarter. Could you tell me the reason for that? In Q2 and onwards, if, as you mentioned, the raw material cost might stay at the high level, and do you think that you can recover or improve the profitability? The second question is about energy. The other day, the automotive battery, the investment into the factory was announced. In generating free cash flow, I think that you're making good progress in the investments.
As a holding, are there any changes in thinking about the investments?
Yes. About the energy company, the profit structure, mainly the automotive batteries and then industrial and the consumer. Those are the two major areas. The level of the size of the profits is that automotive is about 30% or more, and the rest is little less than 70% industrial and consumer. Energy solution and energy devices, concerning those, high profitability is maintained. The mobility energy, if you calculate, it'll be a little less than 5%.
Of course, right now, 4680 development cost and also the production expansion investment is necessary. The fixed cost, higher fixed cost, is impacting. From the previous Q1, you mentioned that there is an improvement. The price revisions in the first half, of course, we did not catch up fully, but as we compared to last year, it is improving. Since last year, we are recovering and seeing improvements. That has contributed to improve the profitability. Also, the automotive factory, the investment in it, there is a major project. As of now, in July, in Kansas or the State of Kansas, the contract investment incentive was established, and we made an announcement together with the state. In the past, it was virtually vertically integrated. We did everything.
Now, in this area, there are different flows of money, and we are seeing the changes in such flow. Energy announced that, doing everything on our own, vertically integrated, those are very rough numbers that they announced. 4680 type in Wakayama plant, we are doing the verification on the mass production. We are currently working hard on that. This is something that we will be doing in Wakayama plant so that we can make sure that there is a product, the profitability, in making 4680. Based on that, we would like to do the capital allocation, which would become necessary based on the different scenarios. How much do we need is not fixed. There are various simulations that we need to do. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
We're coming to an end. We'll take just questions from two people. One question per person, please. From Citigroup Global Markets Japan, Ezawa-san, please.
Yes. Thank you. Just one question on energy. In vehicle and industrial and consumer, I think sales are rather strong. The appreciation of the yen, how much is the effect of that? Or is it limited? Is it really price going up and sales volume going up that resulted in increased sales? Compared to the full year forecast, I think that Q1 progress was very good. Is that simply the case that we can expect the annual sales to be larger than your projection? Or is it that there were some special factors in Q1, and therefore we should expect smaller sales in Q2 onward?
Thank you. Energy. Exports are quite sizable. Both in sales and profit, we see an upside as a result of the impact of exchange rate change. I'm not gonna go into the details for Q1, but to a certain extent, at Energy Company, about JPY 40 billion increase in sales were achieved, of which approximately two-thirds benefited from the exchange rate changes. Sales did increase. Sales increase was particularly large for in-vehicle, the PENA operation in the US. This saw the biggest increase in sales. Going forward, sales in the US, PENA sales, we have the fourteenth line in operation, and the operating rate is increasing. That should make a difference. We believe that the expected sales increase could be achieved. That is our current projection. That answers your question?
Yes. Thank you.
The last question is Mr. Nakane from Mizuho Securities.
Thank you. This is Nakane speaking. One question. About the inventories. In Q1, it's up to JPY 1.3 trillion.
Of course, it has to consider the foreign exchange impact, but my question is that finished products and the work in progress and so forth, whether the inventory level is higher or lower than the regular level. When you look at different segments, which segments have higher inventories, and what is the size of the higher inventory? The third is that maybe March or September, you mentioned that you would revisit the inventory levels, so it's not yet final. When we think about the cash flow, what would be the level of the inventories that we should consider, if you can give us any hints? Semiconductors and the other materials, if the prices come down, is there any risk that the loss will incur from the inventory?
Maybe it's not likely, but if you can comment on that.
About the inventories, from the beginning of the fiscal year, it is increasing. If I calculate this, in terms of the actual numbers, JPY 50 billion-JPY 60 billion, and that is the foreign exchange translation related, and also the inventory is up in volume. Mainly strategically secured, the inventories, including semiconductors. For the manufacturing production, the materials that we need to secure, that was up in Q1. Year-on-year comparison, when you do the comparison, it's about JPY 300 billion or higher. But actually, it's about JPY 286 billion level increase. More than half of them then is strategically secured inventories. When we have manufactured products, they are bought by the customers right away. What about the remaining half?
There are accompanying materials and also PSI due to the different factors will change. There are materials related to that. The inventory that we focus upon, first of all, is to differentiate whether it is strategic inventory or not, and whether this would lead to the disposal, potential disposal. Operating company is currently verifying that. They're unable to manufacture. The risk of having the disposal of the inventory is not something that we are seeing right now. Whether we are keeping the inventory of the finished goods or work in progress, there are differences depending on the operating companies, but mainly the finished goods is small. When we have finished goods, they sell very quickly. As much as possible, we want to have our inventory as materials.
At the same time, from Japan, for example, cylindrical battery 18650, for those products at the ports of U.S., they were stopped. Some work in progress inventory increased in energy because of that. Basically, we want to have the inventory of the raw materials, and the finished goods inventory is very few. Towards Q2, we would try to reduce the inventory level, there is a congestion in Q1, and Q2 is right after Q1, so we want to make sure that we capture the opportunities. There is a direction to reduce the inventories, but toward the end of the fiscal year, we would make sure to reduce the inventories. That's how we look at this. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. I understand.
Thank you very much. With this, we conclude the earnings webinar for Q1 of Fiscal 2023. Thank you very much for participation.