Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.

Fuji Electric Co., Ltd.

76.22
EUR
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8.48BMarket Cap
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Q1 FY2027 · Earnings Call TranscriptJuly 30, 2026

Yoshitada Miyoshi

Hello, everyone. I am Miyoshi, Head of Corporate Planning.

Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend our financial results briefing today. Before I begin explaining the financial results, I'd like to address two points.

First, on July 14th, we underwent an on-site inspection by the Japan Fair Trade Commission regarding transactions with a specific customer involving freezer and refrigerated equipments due to suspected violations of Antimonopoly Act. We take this matter very seriously and are fully cooperating with the investigation and taking appropriate measures.

We deeply apologize for the considerable concern and inconvenience this has caused to our business partners and all other stakeholders. Second, I'd like to address the Kumamoto earthquake that occurred on the 28th.

We express our deepest condolences to those who lost their lives and extend our heartfelt sympathies to all those affected by the disaster. With aftershocks continuing amid the intense heat, many people are living in a state of anxiety.

We pray for the safety of everyone in the affected areas and for a swift recovery. We have many business partners in these regions.

We will, of course, provide support to those partners and strive to offer as much assistance as possible. Now, I would like to present the consolidated financial results for the first quarter of FY2026.

Net sales, operating profit, and profit attributable to owners of parent all recorded historical highs for the company, led by strong performance by the Energy and Industry segments. Please refer to the presentation material provided.

I would like to start from page 5, a summary of consolidated financial results in three months ended June 30th, 2026, showing a year-on-year comparison. Net sales increased by 25.3 billion yen year-on-year to 273.3 billion yen, up 10% year-on-year.

Operating profit increased by 6.9 billion yen to 25 billion yen, up 38% year-on-year, and operating profit ratio at the end of the first quarter came to 9.2%. As for non-operating profit, as you can see on the right-hand side of the slide, net interest expenses, which includes a dividend increase and foreign exchange loss, were positive, having an impact.

Ordinary profit increased by 8.3 billion yen year-on-year to 25.6 billion yen. As explained on the right-hand side of the slide, we recorded gain on sales of investment securities of 7 billion yen in the first quarter, resulting in an extraordinary profit increase of 7 billion yen year-on-year to 6.8 billion yen.

Profit attributable to owners of parent was up 9.8 billion yen to 20.7 billion yen. Please turn to page 6 for the waterfall chart showing the factors behind year-on-year changes in operating profit for the first quarter.

We saw an increase in sales and production volumes of 8.9 billion yen year-on-year, which made a large contribution to record an operating profit of 25 billion yen. I would like to highlight several points here.

As for the 8.9 billion increase in sales and production volumes, automotive business in semiconductor segment and vending machine business in food and beverage distribution segment saw decline in both sales and operating profit, but was offset by power generation business of Energy segment and factory automation components business of the Industry segment, contributing to increase sales volumes. Fixed costs increased with a large increase of 2 billion yen in labor costs.

Other expenses increased by 1.5 billion yen with increased sales volumes. Added value and others include impacts of rising raw material prices, which came to 3.5 billion yen, differences in model mix and profitability between projects, and cost reduction, etc.

As explained before, rises in silver and copper prices are having an impact, with ED&C components business of the Industry segment and semiconductor segment being affected the most. Additionally, we are seeing impact of rising raw material prices in parts of the food and beverage distribution segment.

On the other hand, regarding differences in profitability between models, improved profitability of plant and system projects involving power generation business and power supply and facility systems business contributed positively. Furthermore, in the Industry segment, factory automation components business and ED&C components business related to plant and system businesses also contributed to the results.

The impact of foreign exchange rates was a positive 900 million yen. Next page is an overview of net sales and operating profit by segment for the first quarter of FY2026 and year-on-year changes.

As I mentioned at the beginning, the Energy and Industry segments are driving our performance. In previous earnings briefings, we have highlighted the solid performance of our plant and system-related businesses, but the recent shift in component demand toward recovery has significantly contributed to the improvement in net sales and operating profit, particularly in the Industry segment.

As of the first quarter, the operating profit ratio in the Energy segment rose to 14.7%, and the Industry segment also improved significantly year-on-year to 8.2%. I will now explain the key points by segment.

In the Energy segment, we achieved profit growth across all subsegments. In particular, the power generation business contributed significantly to the year-on-year increase in both sales and operating profit.

Power generation business accounted for approximately 70% of the segment's sales increase, up 8.3 billion yen. In addition to progress in construction projects and differences in profitability between projects, geothermal and hydroelectrical power projects overseas made a major contribution.

In the energy management business as well, storage battery system orders and large-scale orders for substation equipment continued to perform solidly, resulting in increased sales and profits. Net sales in power supply and facility systems business, which are of great interest to everyone, decreased by 3% year-on-year.

This was due to absence of large-scale data center-related orders recorded during the same period of the last fiscal year. However, we were still able to secure an increase in profit.

Furthermore, in the equipment construction business, both sales and profits remained steady. In the Industry segment as well, we achieved net sales growth across all subsegments.

In addition to increased demand for ED&C components business, the fact that the surge in raw material prices did not rise as sharply as initially anticipated also contributed to a significant improvement in operating profit. The main drivers of increased demand for ED&C components were in semiconductor manufacturing equipment and AI-related applications, while demand from finished machinery manufacturers also expanded overall.

In particular, factory automation components and ED&C components businesses are driving business performance, boosting both sales and operating profit. Furthermore, in the factory automation business, partly due to rebound from increased expenses for major projects recorded in the same period of the previous fiscal year, we achieved higher sales and a significant improvement in profits.

Next, the Semiconductor segment. In the automotive semiconductor business, both sales and operating profit declined due to a decrease in demand from an overseas customer.

On the other hand, in the semiconductor industry business, sales increased due to rising demand for motor drives. Operating profit for this segment declined due to the impact of soaring raw material prices and a decrease in demand in the semiconductor automotive business from an overseas customer in the electric vehicle sector.

Next is our Food and Beverage Distribution segment. Sales and operating profits from vending machine business declined due to falling demand.

Although we sought to offset this through store distribution business, we were unable to bring the overall operating profit back into positive. I will now explain net sales by Japan and overseas by areas.

Of the total sales of 273.3 billion yen, overseas sales amounted to 82.4 billion yen, up 11.6 billion yen year-on-year. Sales growth in Asia and India was a main driver of this increase in sales.

I will omit the details, but overseas as well, both the Energy and Industry segments are driving sales growth. I would like to explain orders received in the first quarter.

Order for the same period last year was 336.2 billion yen, but for the current period, it increased by 91.1 billion yen year-on-year to 427.4 billion yen. Breaking this down by plant and systems and components and others, plant and systems saw an increase of 73 billion yen.

Within plant and systems, the Energy segment saw an increase of 90 billion yen compared to the same period last year. This growth was driven by power generation business and power supply and facility systems.

In particular, power supply and facility systems business accounted for approximately two-thirds of this 90 billion yen increase, showing a significant rise in orders. Now I would like to comment on quarterly orders for major components.

In line with a recovery in demand related to data center and semiconductors, orders for major components are also trending upward. I would like to draw your attention to several points.

First, regarding ED&C components business, orders increased 46% year-on-year and 40% quarter-on-quarter. Basically, demand from finished machinery manufacturers is on a recovery trend.

Regarding the increase compared to the previous quarter, we analyze that the impact of last-minute orders is evident in the comparison between the fourth quarter and the first quarter following notification of price revisions to our customers. Demand for factory automation components business also increased, primarily in the data center and semiconductor-related businesses.

However, orders were down 9% compared to the previous quarter. This is due to an absence of one-time large order received from a specific customer in the fourth quarter of last fiscal year.

In the semiconductor industry business, demand for motor drives increased both domestically and overseas. Since these motor drives are ultimately directed towards the semiconductor-related market and others, the semiconductor industry business as a whole showed growth year-on-year as well as quarter-on-quarter.

In semiconductors automotive business, results were negative due to factors such as declining demand from an overseas customer. I will now explain the consolidated balance sheet.

Total assets for the first quarter decreased by 48.9 billion yen from the end of the previous fiscal year to 1,357.8 billion yen, due to factors such as a 22.9 billion yen increase in inventories and an 83.7 billion yen decrease in notes and accounts receivable compared to the end of the previous fiscal year. The equity ratio was 58.2%.

Net interest-bearing debt decreased by 6.2 billion yen to 13 billion yen, and the net debt-to-equity ratio was 0.02 times to be precise. In addition, the 21 billion yen share buyback which we had previously announced was completed during the first quarter and is reflected in these financial results.

This is a statement of cash flows. Cash flows from operating activities improved by 40.4 billion yen year-on-year to 51.5 billion yen, primarily due to increase in cash provided due to decrease in accounts receivable trade and collections of advance payments.

Cash flows from investing activities improved by 14.6 billion yen to a net outflow of 7.2 billion yen, primarily due to higher proceeds from sale of investment securities and lower capital investment. As a result, free cash flow improved by 54.9 billion yen year-on-year to 44.4 billion yen.

Cash flows from financing activities reflect dividend payments of 16.1 billion yen and share buyback totaling 21 billion yen. This concludes the overview of our financial results.

Now, based on our financial results for the first quarter and current business trends, we have revised our earnings forecast. We are revising upward our forecast for the six-month period ending September 30th, 2026, from the forecast announced on April 28th, with net sales up 25 billion yen and operating profit up by 14 billion yen.

The reasons for this revision are to reflect the continuous strong performance of the Energy segment, as well as a notable recovery in demand for components in the Industry segment and the expected increase in demand in the semiconductor industry business. We are maintaining our exchange rate assumptions from the beginning of the fiscal year, and regarding exchange rate sensitivity, we anticipate a negative impact of 40 million yen from the US dollar and positive impact of 60 million yen from the Chinese yuan.

Compared to the same period of the previous year, we expect an improvement of 50.8 billion yen in net sales, 15.2 billion yen in operating profit, and 13.4 billion yen in profit attributable to owners of parent. By segment, we also expect significant improvements in both the Energy and Industry segments.

Next, I would like to discuss our full-year consolidated earnings forecast. For the full-year forecast, we have limited the adjustment to reflect only the upward revision for the first half, and we have decided to maintain the initial plan for the second half.

As a result, our full-year forecast is as follows: net sales of 1.3 trillion yen, operating profit of 156.5 billion yen, operating profit ratio of 12%, and profit attributable to owners of parent of 111.5 billion yen, with rate of profit attributable to owners of parent to net sales of 8.6%. Amid a persistently complex external environment, regarding the outlook for the second half, we will closely monitor trends in plant-related orders and other factors, and provide a further explanation at the time of the interim earnings announcement scheduled for the end of October.

Finally, since this is a question we are asked every year, I would like to comment on foreign exchange. While we are maintaining our exchange rate assumptions, the yen is currently trending lower.

In light of this, I would like to comment on how foreign exchange translation differences at our overseas subsidiaries will affect our financial results. Assuming current exchange rates are maintained, we expect first-half results to show high-single-digit billion yen increase in net sales, while operating profit will remain higher in the few hundreds of millions of yen range.

Furthermore, for the full year, we currently estimate that this will result in an upside of approximately 20 billion yen in net sales and several billion yen in operating profit. That was my final comment.

Thank you for your attention.