Hakuten Corporation Q4 FY2026 earnings call

Overall Financial Performance (FY24)

• FY24 delivered all-time record revenue, operating profit, and net profit, exceeding initial plans, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 10.6% that outpaces the industry average growth of 3.7%
• The main driver of outperformance is the progress of the business unit strategy focused on specialized activities for each customer market

Market & Competitive Positioning

• Hakuten operates at the intersection of three growing markets: the fully recovered advertising industry event and display industries (post-COVID), and the expanding digital internet advertising market
• Hakuten's core offering is Experience Marketing, which solves increasingly complex customer marketing challenges through customized, deep engagement that traditional one-size-fits-all mass marketing cannot deliver
• Hakuten's unique competitive advantage is its in-house combination of three core strengths: creative development, production/construction management, and sustainability expertise — a combination few peer competitors hold

Operational Progress vs Mid-Term Plan

• Social & Market-focused Growth: Continued expansion of business unit strategy aligned to market/customer categories; both total customer count and average customer value have grown steadily, though the company notes it will increase outreach to raise brand awareness
  • Expanded track record in the commercial environment segment: spun out a dedicated commercial environment division in FY24 to accelerate growth after consolidating scattered teams across business units
  • Steady growth in the sustainability segment: achieved ISO 20121 event sustainability management system certification in January 2025, with growing customer demand and steadily increasing sustainability-related revenue
  • Expanded into new segments: delivered experiential communication tools for the education sector, with growing demand for experience-focused education
  • The in-house lab team pursues R&D for future experience design development, which has driven new market expansion and new customer acquisition
• People & Organization-focused Growth: Strengthened human resources departments and formalized training systems; increased hiring while improving per-employee productivity (gross profit per employee has grown steadily)
  • 63 new graduate hires joined Hakuten (67 across the group) in April 2025, and the company maintains a culture of promoting young talent to key positions; has added experienced specialized hires to key roles in IR, public relations, and information security
• Operational Base Strengthening: Completed core system replacement for process improvement, strengthened and updated IT infrastructure, increased information security training, and enhanced corporate disclosure via IR website renewal and expanded investor communications

The transcript does not provide separate absolute financial figures or revenue contribution percentages for individual product segments. It only notes that overall company performance resulted in record revenue, operating profit, and net profit for FY24, with strong growth in the commercial environment (permanent space production including showrooms, museums, and offices) and sustainability segments, and expanding opportunities in new segments including regional and education sectors.

• Mid-term management plan target values for FY25 (the final year of the current 3-year mid-term plan) have been upward revised based on FY24 results and current sales pipeline
• Continued dividend increases are expected for FY25: a full-year dividend of 20 yen per share (10 yen interim, 10 yen year-end) is planned, representing a continued increase from FY24's 2 yen increase over the original plan
• The company maintains its policy of balancing investment for future growth with shareholder returns, targeting a stable dividend payout ratio of 30% long-term
• The next mid-term management plan will focus on expanding business scale and market reach to extend the company's value delivery scope, building on the current plan's focus on laying foundations for future growth, improving profitability, and strengthening operational infrastructure
• Hakuten is preparing for a transfer to the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard Market as a step to improve corporate value and strengthen governance, but will time the move based on the unstable external environment

• The company notes low overall brand awareness in the market, which it plans to address through increased outreach
• The external market environment is currently highly unstable compared to when the Standard Market transfer plan was initially announced, requiring careful timing of the move
• No other material operational or financial risks are explicitly discussed in the transcript

Q: Why is Experience Marketing at the intersection of three sectors expected to continue growing? / A: As marketing challenges become increasingly complex and diverse, clients require deeper, customized engagement aligned to their specific needs. Traditional broad, uniform mass marketing no longer delivers sufficient results to meet these evolving client needs, driving growing demand for targeted experiential marketing solutions. Hakuten's early preparation for this shift over the course of the current mid-term plan is now delivering strong results.

Q: What is the status of Hakuten's sustainability initiatives? / A: A dedicated team leads development and implementation of environmentally friendly events, and the company obtained ISO 20121 sustainability management system certification in January 2025. This certification strengthens organizational capacity beyond individual project delivery, and customer demand for sustainable events is growing steadily, leading to consistent growth in sustainability-related revenue. Sustainability efforts now function as a core competitive advantage for global client accounts.

Q: What progress has been made on moving to the Standard Market, and what is the plan going forward? / A: Transfer to the Standard Market is a means, not an end: it is a step to improve corporate value and strengthen governance frameworks. The current external environment is much more unstable than when the transfer was first announced, so management will wait to identify an appropriate timing to proceed with the move.

Q: What is Hakuten's shareholder return policy? / A: The long-term policy remains balanced between future growth investment and shareholder returns, with a target of stable dividends around a 30% payout ratio. For FY25, a full-year dividend of 20 yen per share is planned, continuing the trend of steady dividend increases. The company also maintains and updates its shareholder benefit program for long-term holders.