Gurunavi,Inc. Q1 FY2026 earnings call

Core Financial Performance Summary

• Revenue came in roughly in line with company plan, while profits outperformed plan due to strict cost control alongside targeted growth investment. All key KPIs (ARPU, paid store count, Rakuten ID linked members) increased year-over-year.
• The smaller year-over-year profit increase was due to higher growth investment: increased personnel costs for restaurant support business expansion, higher depreciation from accumulated fixed assets, and higher promotion-related expenses that were unusually low in the year-ago quarter.

User Base Growth

• Rakuten ID linked member count grew steadily to 10.33 million members at quarter-end. Linked members have a higher average group size for reservations (4.77 people per reservation, continuing a slight growth trend) versus 3.20 people per reservation for non-linked members, driven by Rakuten's point reward structure based on party size. This delivers dual benefits of growing reservation volume and total visitor numbers to activate the restaurant industry.

Strategic Initiatives

• Rakuten Group Collaboration: The company is expanding user acquisition and engagement centered on deepened collaboration with Rakuten. The first initiative, integration between the Rakuten Card Premium Program and Gurunavi's organizer rank program, will launch in fall 2025, with joint marketing for the integration currently under discussion. The company will also explore partnerships with non-Rakuten external media/services with strong unique user bases to capture a wide range of dining needs from business entertainment to family meals.
• Marketing Agent Business Expansion: The Google Business Profile operation support service (part of Gurunavi's full-suite web marketing support for restaurants) has seen steady growth in client store count and rising average revenue per user following a 2024 product renewal. New coupon content synchronization with Rakuten Gurunavi launched in May 2025. This service is used as a hook to attract new paid member stores, expand the merchant network, reduce restaurant operational burdens, and contribute to improved labor conditions in the food service industry.
• ぐるなびFineOrder Mobile Order Service: Contracted client companies reached 133, centered on large chain groups. 85% of contracted stores are fully on-boarded and operational. New integrations include point-of-sale systems for mixed food-and-retail operations and specialty sweet shops, plus expanded payment options including Rakuten Pay and PayPay.
• Sustainability: A new dedicated website for the company's sustainable food initiatives, developed in partnership with government and regional authorities, launched in June 2025 to communicate the company's purpose and activities.

Long-Term Strategic Flywheel

Expanding support areas and strengthening solution offerings enable the human-centric sales and support team to address challenges for a wider range of restaurant types. This expands the merchant network, deepens dialogue with restaurant owners on overall business management, and accumulates valuable industry data that serves as a foundation for new product development, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of growth that builds a more robust revenue base for the restaurant support business.

1. Stock-type paid subscription service for restaurants: Revenue increased 8.3% year-over-year, continuing steady growth. ARPU continued to rise smoothly, and total store count saw a slight net increase compared to the end of the year-ago quarter, with churn kept at a low level. No absolute revenue value was provided in the partial transcript.
2. Spot-type service: Revenue decreased year-over-year, primarily due to the company's strategic focus on growing stock-type subscription orders rather than one-off spot business.
3. Promotion service: Revenue increased year-over-year, driven by growth in both corporate/manufacturer client projects and government/regional public agency projects. No absolute revenue value was provided.
4. Related businesses: Revenue increased year-over-year, driven by growing sales from Tempos Gurunavi, the kitchen equipment retail store opened in April 2024. No absolute revenue value was provided. Overall total company revenue for the quarter was 3.081 billion yen, operating profit was 25 million yen, and net quarterly profit was 51 million yen (influenced by a 30 million yen gain on sale of investment securities as a special gain).

Management expects that the expanded personnel structure will deliver growing profit contribution quarter-over-quarter starting from the second quarter, with full benefits of growth investments fully realized in the next fiscal year to drive long-term growth of the restaurant support business. The full-year net income growth plan remains on track after a solid first quarter start, with no upward or downward revision to the full-year plan provided in the partial transcript.

Restaurant operators are facing heightened cost sensitivity due to recent rising utility and raw material prices, which creates pressure on subscription sales and retention. No additional operational or market risks were discussed in the partial transcript.

Only an incomplete question about sequential net decline in stock-type paid store count is included in the partial transcript, with no full answer provided. Four additional planned questions are listed but not transcribed: 1) Personnel costs and organizational strengthening details, 2) Non-member average reservation size, 3) Inbound monetization approach, 4) UMAME! AI service growth potential, 5) Rakuten Card collaboration details. No full question-and-answer exchanges are available in the provided transcript.