Now, we are starting a financial results briefing for December 2023 and explanation meeting for the new management plan. Let me first go through today's attendees. On the front tables on your right, we have Horikiri, the President and CEO of Nippon Express Holdings. On your left, we have Takezoe, the President and CEO of Nippon Express Co. In our rear tables in the middle, we have Furue, the Senior Managing Executive Officer at Nippon Express Holdings in charge of Global Business Operations. On his right, we have Otsuki, the Managing Executive Officer in charge of Corporate Strategy. On the left of Furue, we have Akama, the Managing Executive Officer in charge of Corporate Management and Risk Management.
Next, we have Akaishi, the Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer in charge of Corporate Planning. We also have Suzuki, General Manager of Finance Department and Secretariat. Also myself, I am Tsumori from IR Promotion Office, Corporate Planning, and I will be moderating today's briefing. In today's schedule, we have two sessions, the financial results for FY 2023 as part one, and new corporate management plan as part two, and we plan to finish at 7:20 P.M. First, President Horikiri will explain the financial results for 2023 for a little over 20 minutes, and then the overview of financial results will be explained by the company. Then we have Q&A session to finish at 6:05 P.M. Today we are using PowerPoint presentation material, tanshin report, and memo for the briefings, and they are all available on our website.
In today's session, as I mentioned earlier, we have two parts. In part one, we are going through the financial results for 2023, and based on the status on the results and the progress on the management plan, we will talk about the direction forward in the future initiatives in the second part, an explanation of new management plan. Then we can have discussions afterwards. Now, I want to pass the floor over to Horikiri to go over the results for December 2023.
This is Horikiri. Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to attend our financial results presentation today. I am now taking over the position of the President of Nippon Express Holdings from Saito, and I will be responsible for the management of the company. Let me now give an overview of the financial results for the year ending December 2023.
Please see page five of your briefing materials. Consolidated financial results for fiscal year ending December 2023 are shown as in the document. The company has begun to apply IFRS, and as a figure corresponding to conventional operating income, the accumulated consolidated segment profit, the business profit was JPY 81.2 billion. It is down by JPY 56.2 billion versus the same period last year. In addition, the decrease in operating income of JPY 95.4 billion is a reactionary decline from the JPY 53.5 billion gain on the sale of the former Shiodome headquarters building in the second quarter of the previous year. Also, in addition, the company recorded impairment losses on fixed assets of NX NP Logistics, a subsidiary, and on the domestic pharmaceutical business in the current fiscal year.
NPL's main business is domestic logistics of electrical related products, but its performance has been sluggish due to weak cargo movements by its main customers, and its future business plan is also expected to be challenging. The company has evaluated the recoverable amount of fixed assets and other assets and recorded an impairment loss of JPY 5.1 billion. However, the company has important functions and expertise in expanding and handling of electrical and electronics related products and will work to rebuild its business performance. In addition, for the domestic pharmaceutical business, an impairment loss of JPY 19.9 billion was recorded in the previous fiscal year, but an additional JPY 3.1 billion was recorded as a result of a review of future business plans in light of the current operating conditions.
On the other hand, the pharmaceutical industry as a whole has seen significant growth in domestic and overseas handling, including forwarding handling. The potential of the pharmaceutical business remains high and will continue to focus on this as a priority industry. Next, the results were lower than the forecast figures announced on November 13. In the forecast of the fourth quarter, we had expected an increase of JPY 51.1 billion from air forwarding volume, both from overseas and Japan in the Q4 versus Q3 due to the peak season, and also an increase in domestic logistics due to the year-end logistics demand, and an increase of JPY 6.4 billion on an operating income basis. Despite the increase in both revenue and income, it fell short of the forecast. On pages seven and eight of the document, we provide a breakdown of changes in revenue and operating income.
With regard to operating income, please see page eight. Operating income for the previous year was JPY 128.7 billion under Japanese GAAP. There is a gap in accounting treatment between Japanese GAAP and IFRS. In addition, IFRS includes non-operating income and extraordinary gains and losses such as the gain on the sale of the former Shiodome headquarters building that I mentioned earlier in operating income. As a result, operating income under IFRS would be JPY 155.5 billion. The business profit was JPY 81.2 billion. The main reasons for the decrease of JPY 56.2 billion from the previous year were the decline in gross profit per unit in the international forwarding business due to the easing of supply demand, and reactionary decrease due to a decline in the volume of cargo handled.
In addition, domestic logistics remains sluggish as overall cargo movement failed to recover although some industries and customers, such as those related to automobile industries saw an increase in the volume of cargo handled. As a result, the Japanese business and overseas business decreased by JPY 32.9 billion and JPY 20.3 billion respectively, which were the main reasons for the decrease in profit. Please see page 10. The following table shows a Q&Q comparison of business performance trends. In Logistics Japan, the air forwarding business saw an improvement in gross profit per unit and domestic logistics also saw a certain amount of year-end cargo demand.
Domestic logistics did not grow as much as expected, resulting in generally sluggish performance. On the other hand, segment income increased by JPY 5.9 billion, exceeding the forecasted increase mainly due to a decrease in personnel cost related costs, resulting from the reversal of accrued paid leave liabilities. On the other hand, overseas income were down by JPY 1.2 billion mainly due to lower gross profit per unit in the air forwarding business. As a result, the result was JPY -3 billion, so it was lower than the expected increase in profit during the peak season for airline operations.
Next, please see page 11 for an overview of the forwarding business. The following table shows the quarterly volume index gross profit per unit and gross profit amount for air forwarding from Japan. The gross profit per unit indicated by the line chart declined in Q3 due to higher purchase freight rates resulting from rising demand for EC cargo originating from Asia and higher fuel surcharges, but improved by 2.6 percentage points in Q4 due to tighter space control and sales price negotiations. Please see page 12. As for overseas originations, their volume handle increased, but gross profit per unit declined by 14.6 percentage points.
Although we did not expect this gross profit per unit to decline significantly at the end of the third quarter, the impact was felt in East Asia where handling of electrical electronics related products was sluggish amid rising air freight rates from Asia and Europe where unit sales prices declined due to price competition. Please turn to page 13. Next, in marine freight forwarding, the gross profit per unit for both Japan originated and overseas originated cargoes continued to decline as market supply demand conditions eased. Freight rates trended upward due to restrictions on Panama and Suez Canal operations and other factors. Amid this trend, our gross profit per unit has begun to rise both in Japan and overseas. Pages 14 and 15 summarize the quarterly trends by segment for the results explained so far.
Please turn to page 14. Although the overall trend of the logistics segment is as explained above, based on the quarterly trend, there is a sense that logistics demand has bottomed out since the second half of 2023, but the recovery is weak and a full-scale recovery is expected only after the second half of 2024 when the semiconductor industry is expected to recover. In addition, pages two and three of the supplementary materials provide details on changes in external environment, and page five provides a breakdown of changes in operating income forecast. Next, let me also explain the progress of Management Plan 2023. As we evaluate the Management Plan 2023, the IFRS base figures for 2023 were evaluated by replacing them with Japanese GAAP figures. Please turn to page 17. Progress against the main numerical targets of the management plan is shown in the materials.
Weak cargo movement and cost increases including energy and labor costs. Despite the rise in the cost of sales, all of these targets fell short of the final year target. On the other hand, compared to 2019, prior to COVID, we see a certain level of success with an approximately 8% increase in net sales and roughly 17% increase in operating income despite the challenging external environment. Next, please turn to page 19. Regarding the growth strategy of the core business, the results of handling priority industries are shown in the document. Due to a decline in unit prices in the forwarding business and other factors, the industry fell below the previous year's level and the industries other than overseas apparel did not meet the 2023 target.
Although we have been severely affected by the reactive decline in international logistics, our warehousing and other logistic services are expanding both domestically and internationally, and we believe that our efforts to date will bear fruit during the recovery phase of logistics volume. Next, as a Business Axis, the volume results for air and marine forwarding are shown in the document. As for the shipping market, the overall global cargo volume from January to November which can be confirmed increased slightly by about 0.4%, mainly due to containerized cargo movements from Asia to Europe and the U.S., which turned to increase compared to the previous year. On the other hand, our handling volume declined due to a return to shipping company direct.
Although space supply is increasing due to the launch of new vessels, freight rates are currently on an upward trend due to the impact of the Panama and Suez Canal restrictions on operations, and the future trend of freight rates is uncertain due to the prolonged deterioration of the situation in the Middle East. As for the aviation market, exports from Japan in December totaled 67,000 tons, down 10% from the same month last year and have been below the previous year's level for consecutive months. Meanwhile, global international cargo traffic in December was up 4.9% year-on-year, it was - 4.5% versus 2019, which is lower than before the COVID. The year-on-year increase in air freight demand was affected by strong EC demand while air freight demand in the supply chain excluding EC related demand remained sluggish.
Against this backdrop, airfares are currently 40% higher than they were before the outbreak of the infectious disease, but due to the continued easing of supply and demand, air fares are expected to trend downward. Under these circumstances, in the forwarding business, the key points are to increase the volume of cargo handled and to reduce utilization costs. We are focusing on securing volume by expanding bidding targets. In addition, in the ocean forwarding business, we have begun targeting daily consumer goods or FMCG customers originating from Asia in line with the promotion of our volume strategy utilizing the FAK rate. In addition, we are expanding the scope of global airline purchasing bids in order to reduce air usage costs.
In addition, we will use Haneda Airport for the reconsolidation scheme to increase long-haul sales from Asia and, at the same time, improve the efficiency of the consolidation process. Current conditions, including a shift back to direct shipping, have resulted in a decline in our overall forwarding volume. Against this backdrop, we reiterate the framework of our core business growth strategy, which aims to achieve global growth over our customer base and business through a three-axis approach: Customer-Industry Axis, Business Axis, and Area Axis. Expand new business, especially in priority industries, by capturing changing trends in industries and business sectors and providing logistics solution tailored to the characteristics of each. Through these efforts, we have sought to increase volume and top line. We believe that this direction is the right one, but we see it as an issue in terms of the speed of progress.
However, a global sales structure is now in place, led by the Global Business Headquarters, or GBHQ for short, and we will evolve our current business growth strategy in the new management plan. Next, please turn to page 21 of the document regarding the strategy for strengthening Japanese businesses. With regard to the strategy to strengthen Japanese business, as described, the improvement of profitability, productivity improvement, evolution of land-sea-air fusion, and enhancement of network products have yielded results in terms of outsourcing cost reductions. In addition, as energy, labor, and various other costs rise, we see it as an important issue to review our rates to ensure that they are appropriate and to reflect cost increases in our rates. Furthermore, with our 2024 problem also imminent, we will continue to work intensively on rate revisions and contract reviews.
Next, please turn to page 22 for information on efforts to reduce indirect costs. Regarding indirect cost reductions, the cumulative reduction was JPY 5.32 billion, 56% progress against the target of JPY 9.5 billion. Further cost reductions will be necessary to strengthen our Japan operations, and we intend to strengthen our efforts by utilizing digitalization and DX, as well as expanding the scope of our efforts from the Nippon Express centered approach to the entire group. Please refer to page 24 of the document for the status of cost increase related to employee system reforms. Next, please turn to page 25. We have been discussing our strategy to strengthen our Japanese business by shifting the phase to structural reform of our Japanese business and have explained the direction and status of our efforts in this area.
As one of the pillars of this reform, we have been studying the allocation of management resources in accordance with market characteristics, including a review of the organizational structure. As a result, we have begun concrete consideration of the introduction of an in-house company system as part of Nippon Express structure. We see this as one of the key strategies of the new management plan. Next, please turn to page 26. With regard to ESG management for sustainable growth and enhancement of corporate value, we recognize that companies are required to make qualitative changes with sustainability as a keyword. Although some targets related to CO2 reduction and work style reforms have not been achieved. In the new management plan, we will promote efforts to make sustainability management one of the most important themes as a starting point for all things. Please turn to page 27.
Next, what about efforts to realize that long-term vision? Based on the premise of our M&A strategy, we have been working to accelerate our transformation under a holding structure and restructuring toward a structure that can achieve global growth and stronger group management. As previously announced, the closing of the acquisition of cargo-partner was reached on January 4, and we will establish a PMI structure centered on GBHQ to pursue synergies. In addition, we will step into new areas such as expansion of business in India and business in Africa and other regions. In Japan, we have been in ongoing discussions with Meitetsu Unyu Co, Ltd. regarding the integration of our special cargo business. As announced today, we have reached an agreement regarding Meitetsu Unyu. We will continue to organize and integrate overlapping businesses and functions, and strengthen specialized businesses.
I have explained the progress of the management plan above. As a general assessment of our progress, we have made steady progress over the past five years in our core business growth strategy for strengthening Japanese businesses, and initiatives for realization of long-term vision. We believe it is necessary to further accelerate the speed of reform. Next, I will explain our forecast for 2024. Although we view FY 2024, the first year of the new management plan, as an important year for realizing our long-term vision, we see the external environment as challenging in the short term. Please turn to page 29. With regard to the global economic outlook for the current fiscal year, the business environment is expected to be challenging, with weak growth anticipated.
On the other hand, we believe that domestic and international logistics demand will recover in the second half of the year and beyond, and that the efforts of our ongoing strategy to grow our core business and to strengthen the Japanese business will be magnified. For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, we have comprehensively taken into account the current situation and outlook, and we expect an increase in revenue and an increase in each of the profits below business profit compared to the previous year. Please turn to page 31. The following is the forecast for each segment. The forecast for cargo-partner, which will join the group in the current fiscal year, is the figure shown in the document, but we expect approximately JPY 3 billion in amortization of intangible assets in the fourth quarter, which will be determined by the procedure for allocating the purchase price allocation.
Although not included in the current earnings forecast, the company will strive for early creation of synergies, mainly in terms of costs, and will steadily promote PMI. Please refer to pages 14 to 17 of the supplementary information for further details by segment later in this report. Next, please turn to page 36. Regarding shareholder returns for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023, we have set the annual dividend at JPY 300 per share. As a result, the dividend payout ratio is 71.7%, and the total return ratio is 98.6%. The dividend payout ratio under Japanese GAAP is 57.8% and the total return ratio is 79.5%, which means that the total return ratio for the cumulative five-year period beginning in FY 2019 will be 58.6%. The lower ratio under Japanese GAAP is mainly due to the accounting gap between JGAAP and IFRS efforts regarding gains/losses on sales of securities.
For the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, the annual dividend forecast is at JPY 300. We will continue to strive to improve corporate value and enhance shareholder returns. This is an overview of the financial results for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023. We will explain the future direction of reference based on the results of FY 2023 financial results and the progress of the management plan at the briefing session on the new management plan later in this presentation. Thank you very much. As such, we would end the explanation about the financial results FY 2023