4171.T

• **Company Overview & Business Model

  • Global Information has operated for over 40 years with a mission to provide truly valuable global market information to customers, with 5 global locations and partnerships with over 200 research firms. It operates a low-risk, no-inventory business model: it receives English product information from overseas research suppliers, translates it to Japanese, posts it to its website, then places orders with suppliers after receiving customer orders via the website. The core business (information provision for market and technology trends) is run by Global Information, while the IoT-related other business is run by consolidated subsidiary Gibtech.
  • Gibtech operates two core businesses: manufacturing and sales of in-brand JAZE communication devices using the ZETA LPWA communication standard for IoT networks (used in smart city, smart building, smart factory projects), and agency sales of the paperless exhibition DX tool AiMeet, which enables exhibitors and organizers to track customer data and document engagement for cost reduction and efficiency gains.

• **2025 Fiscal Year Operational Summary

  • Q1 2025 set an all-time high sales record, but sales slowed in both domestic and overseas branches from Q2 onward, with each subsequent quarter falling below prior year and prior two-year sales levels.
  • Management has observed an ongoing industry shift toward more niche, customized customer demand for market information, away from standardized pre-made reports.
  • Direct outreach to existing and past customers via in-person and online meetings has gradually started to drive order growth, after being implemented as an alternative to search-engine based lead generation.
  • The balance sheet remains healthy with no major material changes, and an equity ratio of 79.5%.

• **GII Vision 2028 Medium-Term Management Plan Key Strategy

  • The plan's overarching theme is "Evolution to a Comprehensive Market Information Provider", carried forward from the previous medium-term plan, aligned with the shift to customized, niche customer demand.
  • Key Priority Initiatives:
  1. Strengthen solution provision capacity to match customer needs: Expand offerings of commissioned research, AI-powered platforms, and SaaS-type products to address growing demand for niche and customized solutions instead of just pre-made reports.
  2. Diversify customer acquisition channels and deepen customer relationships: Continue SEO work for search engines (the core existing channel), but increase direct sales outreach to build independent customer relationships, and use events like seminars and webinars to drive new customer inquiries and orders.
  3. Improve internal process efficiency via generative AI: Expand existing AI use for Japanese translation and website page creation, and deploy an AI-powered product search function for the ~300,000 products listed on the website to speed up and improve sales team proposals for customers.
  4. Invest in human capital: Continue investing in recruitment and training for staff who can work with new technologies like AI, to support the required business structure transformation.
  5. Advance new business and strategic investment: Use the company's existing cash reserves to explore entry into synergistic adjacent businesses and new ventures, with M&A as a considered strategy.

• **Gibtech Medium-Term Targets Gibtech targets 47 million yen in sales (a slight year-over-year decrease) and 6 million yen in operating profit (return to profitability) for 2026 December fiscal year, rising to 48 million yen in sales / 20 million yen operating profit in 2027, and 51 million yen in sales / 31 million yen operating profit in 2028.

• **2026 December Fiscal Year Full-Year Consolidated Guidance

  • Consolidated net sales are guided to 2.760 billion yen, representing a 7.5% year-over-year increase (192 million yen growth from 2025).
  • Operating income is guided to 300 million yen, representing an 18 million yen year-over-year decrease, as continued wage hikes to match industry labor cost increases are expected to push up expenses.
  • Dividend per share is planned to decrease from 60 yen in 2025 to 52 yen in 2026, aligned with the planned operating income decrease. The company maintains its existing dividend policy of targeting a 6%+ DOE and 40%+ payout ratio; for 2026, the planned dividend will have a 76% payout ratio and 6.1% DOE, meeting the policy requirements. The 2,000 yen QUO card shareholder benefit for holders of 200+ shares will remain unchanged.

• **2026 Segment-Specific Guidance

  • Market Research Report Sales: Revenue is expected to grow, driven by initial improvements from SEO measures implemented after the 2025 search algorithm change downturn, plus flexible responses to growing customer demand for customized add-ons to standard reports, and continued exploration of new suppliers to match diversified niche customer needs. The overall information provision business is expected to grow 194 million yen (7.7% year-over-year) in 2026.
  • Commissioned Research: Growth will continue, driven by improved customer service from the existing dedicated team, ongoing outreach to potential and prospective customers to increase orders, and cross-selling/upselling high-margin commissioned research projects originating from standard report inquiries, with participation from all sales staff not just the dedicated team.
  • Annual Information Service: The company will expand offerings of AI-powered market information platform SaaS products (developed by its suppliers) and multiple-report bundle annual contracts, which offer fixed discounts to customers facing tighter purchase budgets due to factors like yen depreciation, to drive sales growth.
  • International Conferences and Exhibitions: The company will continue focusing promotion resources on popular events to drive further sales growth.
  • Other (IoT-related) Business (Gibtech): A slight 2 million yen (5.7% year-over-year) revenue decrease is expected, because major customers' smart city/building/factory IoT projects have stalled, reducing communication device deliveries. The company will continue to pursue deployment of the AiMeet exhibition DX tool with existing partner organizers to offset this decline.

• **Medium-Term Consolidated Guidance (2027-2028)

  • 2027 December fiscal year: 2.931 billion yen in net sales, 0.346 billion yen in operating income (return to year-over-year growth)
  • 2028 December fiscal year: 3.078 billion yen in net sales, 0.381 billion yen in operating income (continued revenue and profit growth)
  • Dividends for 2027 and 2028 are not yet fixed, but will be set in line with the company's stated dividend policy for shareholder returns.

1. Market Research Report Sales (Information Provision Business for Market and Technology Trends): This is the largest segment, accounting for approximately 80% of consolidated sales. In 2025 December fiscal year, the segment recorded a 12.3% year-over-year revenue decrease, driven by cautious customer purchasing after Trump tariff news, a large drop in search engine-generated leads following multiple Google algorithm updates, and ongoing poor performance at the South Korea branch due to local economic stagnation. 2. Commissioned Research (Information Provision Business for Market and Technology Trends): Accounts for 10.3% of consolidated sales. The segment grew 63.2% year-over-year in 2025 December fiscal year, after a dedicated Commissioned Research Office was established in Q2. Growth came from increased case acquisition and a large jump in customized projects originating from market research report inquiries. 3. Annual Information Service (Information Provision Business for Market and Technology Trends): Accounts for 7% of consolidated sales. Revenue was nearly flat year-over-year in 2025 December fiscal year: domestic orders stayed at the prior year's level, but the South Korea branch saw order declines due to local economic stagnation that pulled down overall overseas revenue. 4. International Conferences and Exhibitions (Information Provision Business for Market and Technology Trends): Accounts for 1.5% of consolidated sales. Revenue increased 7.3% year-over-year in 2025 December fiscal year, as the company focused promotion resources on popular, high-attendance domestic conferences. 5. Other (IoT-related) Business (subsidiary Gibtech): Accounts for 1.9% of consolidated sales. Revenue increased 6.4% year-over-year in 2025 December fiscal year, driven by continued deliveries to key and major IoT communication device customers plus deployment of the exhibition DX tool AiMeet at multiple trade shows. Overall consolidated net sales for 2025 December fiscal year were 2.567 billion yen, a 6.6% decrease from the prior year's 2.749 billion yen. Operating income was 0.318 billion yen, a 27.3% year-over-year decrease from 0.437 billion yen, with selling, general and administrative expenses increasing 5.6% (48 million yen) primarily due to wage hikes. By location, Japan had a 2.9% year-over-year revenue decrease, Taiwan was the only growing location with an 11.6% increase, and South Korea had a large 25.4% decrease. By industry category, telecommunications/IT (including generative AI and IoT topics), pharmaceuticals, materials, and industrial machinery (including factory automation and industrial robots) all performed well in 2025.

• Macroeconomic uncertainty: Unclear economic outlook after events like the announcement of Trump tariffs has made corporate customers more cautious about purchasing market research, leading to delayed or canceled purchases that hurt core segment revenue.
• Over-reliance on search engine lead generation: Multiple large changes to Google's search algorithm in 2025 caused a substantial year-over-year drop in search-generated leads to the company's website, which was a major driver of 2025 revenue declines. The company's historical heavy dependence on search creates ongoing revenue volatility risk.
• Increased competition from overseas suppliers: Many of the company's overseas research suppliers now use generative AI to translate their own content to Japanese and operate independent Japanese websites, which rank highly in Japanese search results and directly compete with Global Information.
• Generative AI market disruption: Widespread generative AI adoption allows customers to collect and analyze basic market information on their own, which may reduce the relative value of the company's standard secondary/desk research reports.
• South Korea branch headwinds: Ongoing economic stagnation in South Korea has consistently hurt performance at the local branch, leading to large double-digit revenue declines that pull down overall consolidated results.
• IoT business project dependency: Gibtech's IoT communication device business relies on large customer smart infrastructure projects, which are currently stalling and expected to reduce 2026 revenue.

The full text of questions and answers was not included in the available transcript. The transcript only lists the topics of the scheduled Q&A sessions, which are: Q: What is the current status and future outlook for the commissioned research business?

A: (Response not provided in available transcript) Q: What is the outlook for increasing labor costs and operating margin?

A: (Response not provided in available transcript) Q: What is the contribution to performance from information provision to NIKKEI KAI?

A: (Response not provided in available transcript) Q: What is the impact of AI adoption on the company's business?

A: (Response not provided in available transcript)