My name is Yamamoto. Thank you for participation. Now, I'd like to present financial highlights. Page one, as we disclosed at the Tokyo Stock Exchange and through our website at 11:30 today, the first quarter results for FY 2023 saw record order received and a record revenue for the first quarter, thanks to the weaker Japanese yen, on top of positive effects from strong sales and increased market share in the U.S. market, in Powersports & Engine, and cost reduction and others in the ship business. Regarding the outlook for FY 2023, as we decided to review the full year outlook, driven mainly from changes of the first quarter actuals, we upwardly revised both the revenue and the profit of Energy Solution & Marine Engineering, as well as the Powersports & Engine, while downwardly revised Precision Machinery & Robot.
We, however, kept the currency assumption at JPY 130 to the dollar, as per the previous announcement, because there are still many uncertainties, such as business sentiment, mainly concerning the Chinese market and the semiconductor market, foreign exchange, and so on. Overall, the initial forecast remains unchanged. This is a summary of the financials. From page three, I will explain more details. Page three. In the first quarter of FY 2023, we took orders worth JPY 457.3 billion, with revenue of JPY 405.3 billion, business profit of JPY 10.2 billion, profit before tax of JPY 14.9 billion, and a profit attributable to owners of parent of JPY 9 billion. As indicated, weighted average exchange rate of the Japanese yen for the first quarter was about JPY 7 weaker year-on-year.
The value of U.S. dollar-based transaction was about $450 million. Page four. This page shows orders received, revenue, and business profit by segment. As indicated by number one, Aerospace Systems saw revenue and profit growth on the back of passenger demand recovery and the depreciation of the yen, and Energy Solution & Marine Engineering saw profit growth due to an improved equity method profit in ship and offshore structure business. As indicated by number two, Precision Machinery & Robot saw revenue and profit decline, mainly due to the sluggish semiconductor and the Chinese construction machinery markets. As a result, we ended the quarter with revenue of JPY 405.3 billion, up by JPY 54.9 billion year-on-year. The business profit stood at JPY 10.2 billion, up by JPY 5.6 billion. Page five.
Please look at the table for details. As indicated by number one, profitability has improved significantly due to cost reductions at the joint venture in China, in ship and offshore structure, as well as lower steel prices and a weaker Chinese yuan. Page six. Next, let me explain items below business profit. As indicated by number two, we posted a JPY 7 billion foreign exchange gain in the quarter due to year-end valuation of receivables, reflecting the significantly depreciated Japanese yen at June end. As a result, profit attributable to owners of parent was JPY 9 billion, up by JPY 3.6 billion year-on-year. Page seven. I will explain the factors contributing to a change in business profit. The year-on-year depreciation of the yen improved profit by JPY 6.4 billion.
The increase in Powersports & Engine off-road four-wheelers mainly contributed to change in revenue, and overall profit increased by JPY 4.2 billion, while profit declined by JPY 1.7 billion due to change in product mix and other factors, such as lower sales of profitable robots for semiconductor manufacturing equipment in Precision Machinery & Robot, and increased sales promotional expenses in Powersports & Engine. Concerning certain bonus provisions that have been conventionally recorded in a lump, in a lump sum at the year-end, we decided to record them on a quarterly basis to level it out from this fiscal year. This change in accounting treatment resulted in reducing profits by approximately JPY 2 billion compared to the same period last year.
With increase in profit of equity method investments, business profit for the first quarter stood at JPY 10.2 billion, up by JPY 5.6 billion year-on-year. Please refer to page eight for more details by segment. Page nine, changes in assets for the first quarter. As marked by number one, while receivables of Rolling Stock increased, receivables decreased in Powersports & Engine from the end of the previous fiscal year due to payments collection as a result of the progress of sales to end users. On the other hand, as marked by number two, inventories increased due to Aerospace Systems, for which the production of 787 is now going into full swing, as well as to Precision Machinery & Robot, for which the market recovery is strong. Page 10.
This slide shows changes in liabilities and in net assets. As indicated by number three, interest-bearing debt increased from the end of the previous fiscal year, but this is a normal business cycle and is lower than previous years. You can understand that it is in line with our plan. This resulted in net D/E ratio of 96.8%. We will continue to improve asset efficiency by promoting the collection of our accounts receivables and by controlling inventories, so that we will bring net D/E ratio back to the benchmark level of 70%-80% by the end of this fiscal year. Page 11. Box number one shows the cash flow from operating activities.
While the previous first quarter, FY2022, saw cash outflow, which increased advance payment in aerospace, the first quarter, FY2023, saw progress in receivables collection in Powersports & Engine, and the cash flows from operating activities improved by JPY 39.5 billion year-on-year. Cash flows from investing activities did not change materially. As a result, free cash flow improved by JPY 41.6 billion year-on-year. Page 12 shows historical cash flows over the past 10 years for your reference. Page 13. Regarding the outlook for FY2023, as stated earlier, we have not changed the overall figures from the initial forecasts, although some segments have been revised in light of the current situation. Given that, we have maintained our exchange rate assumption of JPY 130 to the dollar. We believe that if the current rate continues, net income may potentially increase year-on-year.
However, we would like to assess the risk of economic downturn stemming from concerns over international affairs and the sluggish real estate market in China during the first half of FY2023, as well as the impact of the PW1100G-JM engine repair. Page 14, segment breakdown is shown in the table. I will go into more details on segment specific slides. Page 15, the results of the first quarter is shown in this slide. Orders received and revenue increased due to an increase in aircraft for the Ministry of Defense and Boeing, and the jet engines. The business profit also improved year-on-year due to revenue increase.
While the number of Boeing 787 shipped remained at two units in the first quarter, the number of production is expected to recover to about 4-5 units per month in the second quarter and thereafter. Profitability is expected to improve sequentially. We increased the full year forecast by JPY 10 billion, only for orders received from the last announcement, due to an increase in orders for the Ministry of Defense and the weaker yen. Page 16. This slide is for your reference, showing orders received and revenue by aerospace and aero engine, number of component parts sold to Boeing, and jet engine components part sold. Page 17 shows the quarterly revenue and the profit. Page 18. This page describes our view of a business environment and the order trend, as well as specific efforts and initiatives to achieve the earnings targets.
Regarding the market overview, market is steadily improving as passenger demand from the commercial business has almost recovered to the pre-pandemic level, with the resumption of production and the delivery of Boeing 787, as well as demand growth and profitability improvement expected for the Ministry of Defense project, under the national policy to strengthen defense capabilities. There are no major changes from the previous announcement regarding specific efforts and initiatives. Page 19. The first quarter results are as shown in this slide. Although revenue increased by JPY 17.1 billion year-on-year due to an increase in the delivery of Rolling Stock for the U.S. market, profit was flat year-on-year due to the impact of lower domestic operations. The FY2023 forecast remains unchanged from the previous announcement. Page 20 shows orders received and revenue in domestic and Asia and in North America.
For your information, appendix shows sales from high-margin after-sales service and progress of the M9 project for Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. Page 21 shows the quarterly trend of revenue and profit for your information. Page 22 shows the market overview and the specific efforts of the Rolling Stock business. As we reported in the last session, proto trains for our R211 project for New York City Subway in North America have been delivered in the first quarter. We will focus our effort on production and the delivery of mass production trains going forward. Other contents remain unchanged from the previous announcement. Page 23. The first quarter results for FY2023 are shown in this slide.
Orders received decreased, despite orders for naval equipment for the Ministry of Defense, due to the base effect in the same period last fiscal year, when we had taken orders for domestic municipal waste incineration plants and two LPG ammonia carriers. Revenue is up, thanks to an increase in energy business and the construction work for LPG ammonia carriers. Business profit increased due to higher revenue and higher equity in earnings of affiliates. We kept the outlook for orders received unchanged, since there were no significant changes, but raised the forecast for revenue by JPY 10 billion, due to an increase in sales to the Ministry of Defense in the Marine Machinery business, and an increase in small projects and repairs in the Ship and Offshore Structure business.
The forecast for business profit has also been raised by JPY 2 billion, due to revenue increase and an improvement in equity in earnings of affiliates. Page 24 shows orders received, revenue, and profit and loss of investments accounted for using equity method of Energy Plant and Marine Machinery business, and Ship and Offshore Structure business for your reference. Page 25 shows quarterly trend of revenue and profit for your reference. Page 26 shows the market overview of this segment. There are no major changes to business environment and the trend of orders received. As for specific efforts, we will continue this fiscal year to focus on offering products and services that contribute to the realization of the low carbon and decarbonized society. As part of this effort, we are designing and sequentially building LPG ammonia carriers.
Thanks to the high level of trust from our customers, the order backlog for these vessels reached 12 vessels as of August. We have enough work to last us until the mid-2020s, when we will begin building large liquefied hydrogen carriers. We will continue to establish a leading position as a leading company towards realizing the required hydrogen supply chains. In addition to hydrogen, this page also contains the latest information on our CO2 separation and recovery efforts to provide decarbonization solutions, as well as our ship operation management support system, SOPass, which we are working on as service-selling business rather than product-selling business. Page 27, the first quarter results for FY2023 are shown in this slide. Orders received decreased due to a decrease in robots for semiconductors and general purpose, and in hydraulic components for construction machinery market in China.
Revenue decreased due to a decrease in robots for semiconductors. Business profit also decreased due to revenue decrease. Regarding the outlook, we lowered our forecast of orders received, revenue, business profit from the last announcement in light of the sluggish Chinese construction machinery market and the slower-than-expected recovery of the semiconductor market. Page 28 shows orders received, revenue, and profit and loss of investments accounted for using equity method of Precision Machinery & Robot, as well as revenue of hydraulic components to China and revenue of robots by segment for your reference. Page 29 shows quarterly trend of revenue and profit for your reference. Page 30 shows market overview of this segment. We have updated our market overview on the sluggish Chinese construction machinery market and the semiconductor manufacturing equipment market.
Although the current situation in both of these market is not as favorable as our assumption at the beginning of the fiscal year, we believe that the construction equipment market outside of China is solid, and that new demand related to AI and green investment will emerge in the semiconductor market going forward. We believe that the situation will improve from the next fiscal year onward. There are no major changes from the previous announcement regarding specific efforts and initiatives. Page 31 shows the first quarter FY2023 results. Revenue increased year-on-year due to an increase in motorcycles for Europe, four-wheelers for the U.S., and the general-purpose engines, and the depreciation of the yen. Business profit improved due to revenue increase, despite an increased sales promotion cost and fixed cost for advertising and promotional activities.
Regarding the outlook, we revised up revenue by JPY 10 billion, and the business profit by JPY 3 billion to JPY 50 billion, based on better than initially expected North American market, which is our main market, where our sales have been strong and we have been gaining market share. Page 32 shows revenue by sub-segment, namely motorcycles for developed countries, motorcycles for emerging markets, utility vehicles, ATVs and PWCs, and general-purpose gasoline engines. Whole sales of motorcycles by country is also shown for your reference. Page 33 shows quarterly trend of revenue and profit for your reference. Page 34 describes market overview of Powersports & Engine for your reference. We updated U.S. and European market overviews. Page 35. Regarding shareholder return, as we kept our outlook unchanged, we plan to maintain full year dividend of JPY 80 per share, the same as the last announcement.
While we plan to pay an interim dividend of JPY 40 per share, we will take into account of the results of the second quarter to determine the year-end dividend. Page 36. Let me report four project topics today. The first three projects are hydrogen projects that we expect to be our core business in the future. This page introduces the progress of the liquefied hydrogen supply chain project. We are targeting 2030 for its commercial scale demonstration. We completed technical development of cargo tank for large liquefied hydrogen carriers in June this year. As shown in the slide, we built a test liquefied hydrogen tank on a scale close to the actual product, verified the integrity of assembly, welding, and the workability of insulation, and confirmed that gas displacement, heat insulation, and other performance were obtained as planned.
Based on these results, we will begin construction of a large commercial scale liquefied hydrogen carriers in the mid-2020s. By accelerating these efforts to commercialize hydrogen in Japan, we will contribute to the early realization of a carbon neutral society. Page 37. Continuing on with the hydrogen business, let us introduce our initiatives for building partnership for a hydrogen society. As shown on the slide, we built the world's first and currently only liquefied hydrogen carrier, SUISO FRONTIER. We unveiled it at Otaru Port in April this year in conjunction with the G7 Ministers' Meeting on Climate, Energy and Environment, held in Sapporo, Hokkaido. The ship was visited by Mr. Nishimura, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, EU ministers, and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The media from various countries covered the visit, generating interest in the liquefied hydrogen supply chain, highly crediting our technical capabilities and progressive approach. In July, SUISO FRONTIER was showcased in Saudi Arabia in conjunction with Prime Minister Kishida's visit to the Middle East, received a visit by the Minister of Energy and the Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia. We will continue to contribute to the realization of the hydrogen society, not only in Japan, but also on a global scale. Page 38 introduces our strategic cooperation and collaboration for building partnership for a hydrogen society. From the left, we concluded a strategic collaboration agreement with ADNOC, a UAE energy company, in April this year to build international liquefied hydrogen supply chains. Next, the middle slide shows an establishment of HySE, a Hydrogen Small mobility & Engine association, in May this year.
Members are Kawasaki Motors, Suzuki, Honda, and Yamaha Motor, and special members are Toyota Motor and us, Kawasaki Heavy Industries. On the right, also in May, we signed an MOU with DNV, the world's leading third-party certification body, to visualize CO2 emissions in international liquefied hydrogen supply chains. In order to realize a hydrogen society, it is important to deepen collaboration with various companies in Japan and abroad. As introduced on the previous pages, we will strive to expand and develop our hydrogen business through partnership and collaboration with other companies, as well as increasing our presence across the globe. Page 39. The last of our project topics is our collaboration with Microsoft to realize an industrial metaverse.
In April this year, we showcased a prototype of our industrial metaverse jointly with Microsoft at the Hannover Messe 2023 in Germany, and were able to demonstrate the future of smart factories by remotely operating our robots installed in Japan from Germany. Microsoft plans to open Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Lab in Kobe in the fall of this year. It will be its fifth such lab in the world, and with our main base also in Kobe, we will work with Microsoft as our partner to create solutions. As we described, we will improve our business profit margin by leveraging our strength in technologies unique to an industrial robot manufacturer, and by increasing the ratio of service-selling business, such as soft services, in addition to our traditional equipment sales business.
Page 40, from this slide onward, contain information regarding capital expenditure, depreciation and amortization, R&D expenses, the headcount at the year-end, and so forth. This concludes my explanation.