4265.T

• Core Value Proposition & Competitive Advantages

  • The company provides AI-powered bias-removed non-cognitive ability assessment services, with core products GROW360+ for corporates and Ai GROW for schools, enabling consistent assessment across all age groups from children to C-suite executives.
  • Holds a large proprietary dataset of 180 million peer-to-peer assessment records accumulated over 8 years, owns multiple patents for bias elimination, and offers end-to-end services covering both HR and education segments, with blockchain-enabled portable personal assessment data.
  • Non-cognitive ability assessment has growing demand amid the rise of generative AI, which has made traditional paper-based cognitive tests obsolete.

• Product Updates

  • Newly launched GROW360+ for corporates, built to meet upcoming mandatory requirements for human capital ROI disclosure in securities reports, reduces the administrative burden of 360-degree assessment and adds full skill evaluation aligned with the ESCO global skill framework, driving growth in high-margin consulting orders.
  • Ai GROW, the company's K-12 non-cognitive assessment service, is currently used by 408 middle and high schools across Japan, with expanding market penetration, and has established co-developed offerings including J's GROW with JTB and Ai GROW-Lite with Uchida Yoko.

• Business Transformation & Partnerships

  • PF/Web3 Business pivoted to blockchain consulting amid changing regulatory conditions for crypto assets in Japan, with growing demand for its services leveraging the company's deep in-house blockchain expertise.
  • Announced a capital and business alliance with Plutus Group, a top-5 Japanese M&A consulting firm founded by ex-Goldman Sachs professionals, raising 160 million yen via a convertible bond to develop human capital due diligence for M&A and post-merger integration (PMI) projects.

• Global Expansion

  • Secured its first client contract for Ai GROW in India, as part of a Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry feasibility study, and launched Ai GROW India. India's young demographic structure (average age 24, 28 million annual births) creates large long-term growth opportunities for the company's assessment services.

• Management reaffirmed its full-year target of achieving net profitability for the 2026 March fiscal year, noting that first half results are on track with the company's black ink turnaround plan, leveraging the seasonal pattern of heavy Q4 revenue concentration common in the education and training industry.
  • The new capital from the Plutus Group alliance will be used to accelerate expansion of the India business and build out the new human capital due diligence business for M&A, which management expects to develop into a large new market.
  • Management expects continued growth in demand for core HR and education assessment services amid regulatory changes mandating human capital disclosure in Japan and growing global demand for non-cognitive ability assessment in the generative AI era.

1. HR Business: Revenue increased 39.9% year-over-year, achieved profitability (black ink turn) after resolving last year's failed overseas system outsourcing issue. No absolute segment revenue value is provided in the transcript. 2. Education Business: Revenue increased approximately 20% year-over-year, recorded 64 million yen in profit, a 76.4% increase year-over-year. 3. PF/Web3 Business: Revenue decreased slightly year-over-year; segment loss improved 46 million yen year-over-year to a net loss of 14 million yen, following the shutdown of domestic blockchain-based job placement support in September 2025. Total consolidated revenue for the first half came in at 319 million yen, against a forecast of 321 million yen (21.5% year-over-year growth), with a first half net loss of 35 million yen, beating the forecast loss of 72 million yen.

• PF/Web3 Business is in a transition period following the shutdown of its prior job placement offering, and there is uncertainty around the success of the new blockchain consulting pivot amid evolving crypto asset regulation in Japan.
  • Global expansion into India is at an early stage, and there is no guarantee that the market will scale as expected, given different local regulatory and market conditions.
  • The new M&A human capital due diligence business is an unproven new market, and there is risk that market adoption will not meet management expectations.

No formal Q&A section is included in the provided transcript. All key strategic, operational, and financial information is covered in the prepared remarks summarized in the sections above.