Good morning, everyone. Welcome to day one of the Sidoti Conference. My name is Aashi Shah, and I am an Analyst here at Sidoti. With me today I have Micware Co. It trades on Nasdaq under the ticker MWC. We have about 30 minutes today, including the Q&A. Kenji Narushima, Founder and CEO, and Takashi Harishima, the Head of North America. Thank you. And with that I'll give you the floor.
Name is Kenji Narushima. My English, like our software, it is always in development, but I promise it works when it matters most. I am the Founder and CEO of Micware. Today, I am also joined by Takashi Harishima, President of Micware North America, based in Columbus, Ohio. Harishima-san will be your direct point of contact here in the U.S. going forward, working closely with our IR team in Japan to make sure your questions get answered quickly and clearly.
Thank you, Narushima-san. It is a pleasure to be here today. I look forward to serving as a direct line between our investors here and our team in Japan.
We appreciate your time and interest in Micware. Micware is a Japan-based automotive software developer offering in-vehicle infotainment navigation software and mobility solutions. Today, I provide an overview of our business, discuss our financial performance, and share our future strategic priorities. Let me begin with five key reasons to invest in Micware. First, Toyota and Honda, two of the world's largest automakers, are both our major customers and strategic shareholders. Second, we are leading automotive software company in Japan with more than 20 years of industry experience. Third, we are well-positioned for the growth of Software-Defined Vehicle as we work to expand into next-generation vehicle software. Fourth, DynaPlanet, our intelligent 3D platform designed for the AI era, is expected to create new recurring revenue opportunities. And finally, our strong profitability and cash generation provide a solid base for future growth.
Now, I'd like to hand it over to Takashi Harishima, President of Micware North America, who will walk you through our company overview and financial highlights.
Thank you, Narushima-san. It's a pleasure to speak with you today. Let me begin by introducing Micware and providing an overview of our business and financial performance. Since our founding in 2003, we've grown into a leading automotive software company. Today, we have about 600 employees and more than 300 patents. We develop IVI systems, navigation software, and other mobility solutions for major automotive companies such as Toyota, Honda, Daihatsu, and Denso. We believe that our long-term relationships with these companies reflect both our deep industry experience and strong technical capabilities. Today, we operate through six operating entities and 13 branch offices in Japan with overseas subsidiaries in the U.S., Thailand, and Germany. From our North American office, we also work closely with OEMs and partners to support our global business development. We currently operate through three business segments.
The first is Software-Defined Vehicles, or SDV, where we develop and provide next-generation mobility software centered on IVI system software. The second is Location-Based Services or LBS, which includes navigation software and location-based services. DynaPlanet, which Narushima-san introduced earlier, is part of this segment. The third is other, which includes software development services provided by our overseas subsidiaries and B2C mobile app services. Most of our revenue comes from developing custom automotive software based on our IVI platform. We also generate revenue through licensing our software modules to customers, typically on a per-unit basis. Other revenue comes from maintenance, support, and B2C mobile app services. Now, I'd like to touch on our financial highlights. Revenue increased by 19.9% from JPY 116.9 million in fiscal year 2024 to JPY 140.2 million in fiscal year 2025. In fiscal year 2026, revenue remained stable at JPY 140.3 million.
Software development services represented majority of our revenue, accounting for about 80% of total revenue in each of the past three years. Gross profit grew by over 38% from JPY 35.5 million in fiscal year 2024 to JPY 49.1 million in fiscal year 2025, and further to JPY 51.6 million in fiscal year 2026. As a result, gross margin also increased by over six percentage points over the past two fiscal years. Adjusted operating profit increased by JPY 13.5 million in fiscal year 2024 to JPY 15.6 million in fiscal year 2026. While net income attributable to our ordinary shareholders increased from JPY 9.1 million to JPY 10.3 million over the same period. Beyond profitability, we further strengthened our financial position. Cash and cash equivalents nearly doubled since fiscal year 2024, showing strong cash generation from our core business.
At the same time, total debt decreased from JPY 40.3 million as of February 2025, to JPY 34.5 million as of February 2026. Overall, there are three key takeaways. First, our gross margin reached a record 36.8%, reflecting sustainable profitability rather than just one-off gains. Second, operating profit continued to increase even as RD spending rose by 40%. This shows our ability to invest in innovation while maintaining profitability. Third, our long-term OEM relationships support repeat business and position us well as the SDV market expands. With that overview of our business and financial performance, I would now like to hand it back to Narushima-san to discuss our long-term strategy and future growth initiatives.
Thank you, Harishima-san. With this strong financial foundation, I would now like to share our strategic direction. Micware started as a developer of car audio systems and car navigation systems. Over the years, we improved our technology and built long-term relationships with major OEMs. These strengths helped us become a leading IVI software supplier in Japan. Today, we are entering the next stage of our growth. Our goal is to evolve from an automotive software company into a platform provider for next generation mobility. To achieve this goal, our growth strategy is built around two main pillars. The first is micAuto, which we will further grow and expand our automotive software platform. The second is DynaPlanet, which will drive the growth of our spatial intelligence business.
To execute this strategy, we plan to introduce a new organizational structure in September 2026, including the establishment of a new company focused next generation spatial intelligence. Our investment priorities reflect these two pillar strategies. We plan to allocate 30% of our capital to the SDV business to support our existing business, micAuto platform. The remaining 70% will be invested in the LBS business to support DynaPlanet platform, create new growth opportunities and generate recurring revenue. The next two slides will provide a closer look at each of these platforms. Let us begin with micAuto Platform. Its modular design allows us to reuse software across different big project while supporting different operating systems and devices, and cloud functions. As a result, we can reduce development work and make project timelines more predictable. Over the years, we have improved the platform through close collaboration with OEM customers.
While deepening long-term customer relationship, we expect micAuto Platform to begin contributing revenue in fiscal year 2027. Our second pillar, DynaPlanet Platform, formerly known as Dynamic Street Map and Marketplace, opens a new area of growth for Micware. DynaPlanet is a next generation 3D platform that uses AI to combine location data with different type of digital content. Its first product, Dynamic Share Map, combines location-based text, images, audio, video, and 3D content to create new value and support monetization. Another product is PreSpot, a DynaPlanet application that allows users to see the view from a selected stadium seat before making a reservation. We view DynaPlanet as a long-term growth platform. As adoption expands, we expect it to generate recurring revenue through broader commercial use and new monetization opportunities. We have clear strategies to grow both platforms.
For micAuto platform, we will continue to deepen our relationship with OEMs while pursuing new customer opportunities. We also plan to expand into ADAS and autonomous driving software. For DynaPlanet platform, our focus is on expanding the platform and building recurring revenue. We will pass B2B and government opportunities in Japan and overseas. In addition, we plan to generate revenue through transaction commissions and third-party licensing. Today, we have shared an overview of our two platform strategies, micAuto platform and DynaPlanet platform. In the first week of September, we will launch a new company, Micware Spacia. Together with this launch, we plan to share more details about overall growth strategies and our future roadmap, so please stay tuned. Micware is now entering an important stage of growth.
As a Nasdaq-listed company, we are increasing our visibility in the global capital markets, while also moving DynaPlanet from the development stage towards revenue generation. At the same time, the growing SDV market is creating new opportunities for our core automotive software business. Our strong profitability allows us to continue investing in innovation and our IPO proceeds. We will support our long-term expansion plans. We believe Micware is well-positioned to deliver sustainable long-term growth. This concludes my presentation, and I would now like to open the floor for any question.
Thank you so much for the presentation. If you can just help me understand, Toyota and Honda are both major customers and shareholders. How should investor think about customer concentration in this space?
Thank you. Our relationships with Toyota and Honda are a foundation of our business, and we recognize that customer concentration is something we manage carefully. In fiscal year 2026, Honda Group represented 50.6% of our revenue, Toyota Group 16.3%, and Uni Electronics 11.4%. These are relationships built over more than 20 years of automotive software development, and we view them as a meaningful competitive advantage. Deep insight into OEM software requirement, and the ability to develop at the pace and quality big programs demands. Alongside Toyota and Honda, we also work with other OEMs, including Daihatsu and Mazda, and we are gradually expanding our customer base. Over time, we expect two new revenue drivers to broaden the base beyond our traditional customer relationships. First, micAuto platform is designed to increase software reuse across different vehicle projects and support and broader range of OEM customers.
Second, DynaPlanet platform, our intelligent 3D platform for GAI era, opens up B2B government and consumer-facing use cases that do not require a deep OEM relationship. Thank you.
Sorry to jump in, Aashi, I think you are on mute.
Oh, I am so sorry. Thank you. That is really helpful. Why did you decide to go public now? Why did you choose the Nasdaq rather than going on the Tokyo Stock Exchange?
Thank you. Over the last 20 years, we have built strong relationships with most of the major Japanese automakers. For us, the next stage of growth is not just about expanding further in Japan. It is about taking Micware global. We have already started building the foundation for that expansion. With operations in the United States and Germany and Thailand, the next step is to increase our global visibility, build relationships with international investors and partners, and ultimately expand our business with customers around the world. That is why we choose Nasdaq.
Okay.
The U.S. capital markets offer access to a broad and diverse global investor base, and we believe Nasdaq is a strong platform for increasing our international visibility. We believe it provides greater opportunities for growth companies like Micware to be recognized by global investors. We also believe a Nasdaq listing can help us attract global talents as we expand internationally. For us, the IPO was not simply about raising capital. It was an important step in transforming Micware from a successful Japanese automotive software company into a global technology companies. Thank you.
All right. Right now, your international revenue represents a relatively small portion of your business. What is the strategy of expanding overseas and getting some international exposure there?
Okay, I will take this question. Approximately, 98.5% of our revenue comes from Japan, while the U.S. currently accounts for approximately 1.4% of our total revenue. Our international business is still relatively small. However, we already have operating bases in the United States, Thailand, and Germany. We are actively building the foundation for future international growth. Here in the U.S., Micware North America serves as our base for expanding our automotive software-based business and developing relationships with OEMs and partners in the North American market. One of my key responsibilities as president of Micware North America is to strengthen these relationships and identify new business opportunities in the U.S. market. Going forward, our strategy is to leverage these existing overseas bases to deepen relationships with global OEM and partners, while pursuing new opportunities for both our automotive software business and DynaPlanet. Thank you.
Okay. If you can talk a little bit about your competitive space and who are your main competitors, and how do you differentiate from them, that would be helpful.
Okay. The competitive landscape differs by business area. In our SDV business, we compete with companies such as Panasonic, SCSK, Tata, and KPIT. Our key strength is that we work closely with OEMs throughout the development process. We support not only software development itself, but also the development organization and project structure with engineering capabilities across multiple levels of a program. In our LBS business, our competitors include HERE, TomTom, Mapbox, and Google. Our strengths come from our deep knowledge of automotive systems and our ability to provide highly customized solutions that meet specific OEM requirements. We also offer flexible applications that are not dependent on a particular platform. Importantly, competition in the automotive software industry is not always straightforward. Companies such as Denso and Panasonic can be competitors in some areas, but they are also important strategic partners with whom we collaborate on development projects.
Depending on the project or technology area, the same company can be both a competitor and a partner. Thank you.
You mentioned that more details on your growth initiatives will follow the September organizational changes. Can you give us a preview of what that will include, like market sizing, financial targets, competitive positioning, anything that changes, and if you can share that with us before September?
Today, we have shared the overall direction of our growth strategy built around our two pillars, micAuto platform and DynaPlanet platform. On September 1st, we plan to move forward with organizational changes. We have already announced the launch of Micware Spacia and the expansion of Micware Automotive. These are structural steps to support the execution of the strategies we have outlined today rather than a separate announcement in the several months. As each business progress, we plan to share further detail at the appropriate time, consistent with the approach we have taken with DynaPlanet's commercialization to date. Thank you.
Thank you. That is very helpful. Can you talk a little bit about what the near-term milestones are for the micAuto pf?
I will take this question. Micware platform is an important part of our strategy to evolve from an IVI Tier 1 software supplier into an SDV-Tier 1 software supplier. Our strategy is to expand the platform's code base and functionality, increase software reuse across vehicle projects, and deepen our upstream involvement with OEM customers. We are also working to integrate ADAS and autonomous driving functionality into micAuto platform. At the same time, we intend to pursue new OEM customers in Japan and potentially overseas, particularly OEMs looking for scalable and cost-effective SDV development environment. We expect Micware platform to begin contributing revenue in fiscal year 2027, so this is an area where investors should watch our progress closely. Thank you.
Got it. Thank you so much. That brings us to our time, but if you want to just close and give us why investors should be looking at Micware right now, that would be great. Any closing remarks from you guys?
Oh, me. Our confidence comes from the fact that we are building on an established, profitable core business rather than starting from scratch. We have more than 20 years of automotive software experience, long-term relationships with major OEMs, and a strong financial base. At the same time, we are investing in two areas that can expand our addressable market.
Thank you. Thank you so much, and it was really great with the presentation. Thank you for taking time and spending your time with us today. I would like to thank everybody in the audience as well. Thank you for listening to us today.
Thank you.
Thank you.