Good afternoon, everyone. My name is He Xian Han, Representative Director, President, and Group CEO of Ferrotec Holdings. Thank you for taking the time off your busy schedules to view today's financial results presentation. I will now be discussing the results for the Ferrotec Holdings Corporation for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2025. Allow me to start with a summary of the business results. In the first half of the fiscal year, Ferrotec recorded a net sales performance in line with the plan and a slight operating income overperformance. We now have a good view of second-half results, and we expect to deliver JPY 265 billion in net sales and JPY 26 billion in operating income for the full fiscal year. The ongoing fiscal year has been rather busy as we ramped up our efforts to complete the milestones listed here.
The first big initiative is Ex-China. Due to changes in the regulatory environment, starting January 1, 2026, U.S. law will require us to make shipments to U.S. clients exclusively from locations outside of China. On January 15, 2024, we completed the construction of our new factory in Kulim, Malaysia, which is already working at full capacity utilization. Construction of the Ishikawa factory in Japan for the manufacturing of ceramics products is also slated for completion in January 2025. We'll be operating these two factories, and then there's also the Johor factory for the manufacturing of power semiconductor substrates, which will be completed in late 2024. The necessary equipment has already been installed, so we expect to be able to gradually enter full-scale production starting in the first quarter of next year.
Our clients, too, have expressed a desire to make the move to ex-China supply chains as soon as possible, and we prioritized the construction of these new factories. Now, stakeholders have expressed concern over our existing capacity in China and whether there is a use for it. We started preparing for this three years ago and have made rapid progress in terms of client acquisition efforts targeting equipment and device manufacturers in China. As such, we are prepared for ex-China shipments starting in 2026, but concurrently, we also have enough demand within China to absorb our full production capacity in the country. We have therefore carried out a number of initiatives toward net sales results of around JPY 500 billion-JPY 600 billion, and furthermore, we believe in the vital importance of creating more and more new businesses.
Ferrotec currently operates three business segments: the semiconductor and other equipment-related business, the electronic device segment, and the automotive-related segment. These three segments are posting very strong results, and going forward, we seek to double the results in each business. Second, our efforts extend beyond Ferrotec's business segments. Within this scope, we have FTSVA, a Ferrotec subsidiary for the equipment parts cleaning business now listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. FTSVA acquired FLH, which is a subsidiary for the manufacturing of power semiconductor substrates. The planned acquisition was announced on September 26, 2024. Trading resumed on October 17, 2024, with FTSVA's stock price surging to a market capitalization of around JPY 350 billion. Naturally, this acquisition requires us to obtain financing.
Once the funds have been obtained, we will be allocating these funds to our operations in Japan, and we believe this will also ultimately translate positively in terms of shareholder returns. We have also raised the annual dividend payment by JPY 10 per share, compared to the same period last fiscal year. This coupled with the planned acquisition of Treasury stocks totaling a total purchase amount of up to JPY 500 million. Ferrotec Holdings is committed to executing a series of initiatives to return value to shareholders. We are in the process of putting together next year's forecast. Here, we are guiding for YOY increases of 20% for sales as well as profits. We therefore believe stakeholders have good reason to be optimistic about Ferrotec Holdings' results outlook going forward. For this reason, we request your continued support and understanding. This concludes my presentation.
My name is Akira Takeda, Director, General Manager of Finance, Accounting, and Business Management. Today, I would like to report on Ferrotec Holdings' results for the first half of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. We registered JPY 135.2 billion in consolidated net sales, a YOY increase of 28%. Depreciation increased by 42%, corresponding to JPY 3.3 billion, on account of the construction of our new factories. Conversely, we registered JPY 14.3 billion in operating income, a YOY increase of 9%. Net income attributable to owners apparent increased by 10% on a YOY basis and stood at JPY 9.2 billion. Next are the results by segment. Starting this fiscal year, we have further divided the electronic device business into the electronic device and automotive-related businesses.
Net sales stood at JPY 84 billion in the semiconductor and other equipment-related business, a 40% increase on a YOY basis, resulting from the continued recovery in the market for semiconductors. Net sales stood at JPY 23.1 billion in the electronic device business, a 23% increase on a YOY basis. The automotive-related business recorded JPY 14.3 billion in net sales, a 2% increase on a YOY basis. I would now like to go over the results for each product category. While sales of silicon parts were down 7% YOY due to the effects of client inventories, a recovery in the market for semiconductors and an increase in Ferrotec's production capacity translated into a sales increase of over 30% for quartz materials, ceramics products, CVD-SiC, and the cleaning business.
We were able to secure demand from semiconductor device manufacturers in China, allowing us to grow sales of vacuum feed-throughs and metal processing by 80% YOY. While sales of quartz crucibles were up 79% YOY, a less favorable supply and demand curve led to lower profitability in terms of sales to photovoltaic panel manufacturers. The operating margin for the semiconductor and other equipment-related business was down primarily on account of higher costs associated with the construction of our new factories and lower profitability from our quartz crucible product offerings. Next is the electronic device segment. Here, growth of demand related to generative AI translated into a significant YOY increase of 41% in sales of thermoelectric modules. Demand was stagnant for power semiconductor substrates, which saw lower sales versus the second half of the fiscal year ended March 2024. Sales were up 20% on a YOY basis, though.
Lastly, we changed Oizumi Manufacturing's accounting period to December. Because of this, only three months are included in the first-half results, leading to a year-over-year decrease in sales in the product category of sensors. Next is the automotive-related business. Here, we met the demand for products for Chinese automobiles, leading to a sales increase of 73% in thermoelectric modules. Sales of power semiconductor substrates were up 9% year-over-year due to the increase in sales of AMB substrates for automobiles. Next is the consolidated balance sheet. Tangible fixed assets increased by JPY 37.8 billion on account of investment in Malaysia toward semiconductor materials, metal processing, and power semiconductor substrates, and investment in Changchun, Lishui, etc. We are moving quickly when it comes to investment in Malaysia, in particular, as our clients in the U.S. request manufacturing be conducted ex-China, that is, outside of China.
On the liabilities side, interest-bearing debt increased by JPY 16.8 billion. Next are the full-year business forecasts for the fiscal year ending March 2025. We expect JPY 265 billion in net sales, JPY 26 billion in operating income, and JPY 16 billion in net income attributable to owners apparent. On November 26, 2024, FTSVA, a Ferrotec Holdings subsidiary for the equipment parts cleaning business, announced the acquisition of shares in FLH, which is another Ferrotec Holdings subsidiary for the manufacturing of power semiconductor substrates. Should this acquisition go through, this amounts to an internal transaction between subsidiaries, so we do not expect this to have any impact on Ferrotec Holdings' consolidated profit and loss statement. Allow me to go over the forecasts on a per-segment basis, starting with the semiconductor and other equipment-related business. Sales of vacuum feed-throughs and metal processing are expected to increase by 60% on a YOY basis.
Similarly, sales of quartz materials, ceramics products, CVD-SiC, and equipment parts cleaning are expected to go up between 14% and 29% on a YOY basis. Conversely, sales of silicon parts are expected to decrease by 5% due to the remaining inventory in client companies. We are also forecasting a rapid decline in sales and profits from quartz crucibles starting in the second half, resulting from a decrease in demand from photovoltaic panel manufacturers. Next is the electronic device segment. We expect a sales increase of 27% for thermoelectric modules due to the growth of demand related to generative AI. While we do expect sales of power semiconductor substrates to reach a plateau after the rapid growth in the second half of the 2024 fiscal year, we nevertheless expect a YOY increase of 5%. Particularly noteworthy in the automotive-related business is the increase in sales of AMB substrates for automobiles.
We expect this to translate into a 33% YOY increase in sales of power semiconductor substrates. Last is the shareholder return policy. On November 14, Ferrotec Holdings announced its decision to raise the annual dividend forecast from JPY 100 per share to JPY 110 per share and purchase Treasury stocks worth JPY 500 million. The company's revised shareholder return policy is: to put importance on the increase of shareholder returns, flexibly purchase Treasury stocks while aiming to increase the dividend amount through continuous revenue growth, and return profit for achieving a total payout ratio of 30%. Going forward, we will continue our utmost efforts to unlock growth and improve corporate value.