AnyMind Group Inc. Q2 FY2025 earnings call

Core Financial Performance

• Reported 13.2 billion yen in total revenue (+10% YoY, +14% YoY excluding forex impact) and 5.1 billion yen in gross profit (+15% YoY, +20% YoY excluding forex impact) for Q2 2025.
• Operating profit reached 446 million yen, down 28% YoY due to headwinds in the creator business, but up 49% quarter-over-quarter, showing sequential profitability improvement. Adjusted net profit after removing one-time forex losses was 372 million yen.
• Year-to-date progress against full-year guidance: 47% for revenue and gross profit, 43% for operating profit, all above the progress rate posted in the prior year.

Product & Operational Improvements

• Continued AI-powered product upgrades: launched AnyTag Insight for influencer marketing to extract consumer insights from social media, added MCP server support for LLM-connected AI agents that enable no-skill natural language platform operations, and upgraded the AnyLive live commerce platform with AI-powered real-time data analysis and script optimization, now supporting 8 languages including Japanese.
• Maintained disciplined headcount management: total headcount stayed flat quarter-over-quarter, with targeted hiring for sales, business development and product teams, and headcount growth controlled in delivery and corporate functions via efficiency improvements. Revenue per employee continues to improve when excluding the impact of headwinds in the creator business.
• Strengthened cross-selling opportunities: increased cross-border, cross-business solution projects for clients, with examples like expanding support for Japanese retailer Komehyo from Singapore to Malaysia and the US.

M&A and Strategic Integration

• Fully acquired AnyReach in March 2025; cross-selling leveraging combined networks drove a 45% YoY increase in gross profit for AnyReach in Q2 2025.
• The share acquisition of Vietnam's Vibula is in the final stage of regulatory approval, expected to close in Q3, with operational collaboration already underway to capture synergies.

Market Positioning Expansion

• Established a leading position in Asian live commerce via the company's proprietary BPaaS model, and obtained all 3 TikTok Shop partner certifications in Japan following TikTok Shop's Japan launch, building on proven Southeast Asian experience. Already expanded support for existing client Unicharm from Southeast Asia to Japan's TikTok Shop, with multiple additional projects in progress.
• For Partner Growth Business, developed new revenue models by combining publisher-side game development expertise and creator-owned IP: launched the Harajuku Festival Dream Beat game app tied to a popular creator's live tour, which reached top iOS rankings and generates ad-based revenue. Launched a new beauty/lifestyle production label for creators aligned with Japan's TikTok Shop expansion.

1. Marketing Business: 30% YoY growth on gross profit contribution, accounts for an unspecified portion of the 73% combined share of total gross profit with D2C/EC business. Regional growth: Japan/South Korea +35%, Southeast Asia +26%, Greater China/India +13%.
2. D2C/EC Business: 51% YoY growth on gross profit contribution, accounts for an unspecified portion of the 73% combined share of total gross profit with Marketing business. Corporate-facing EC support grew 60% YoY, creator D2C grew 42% YoY. Both the number of brands served and revenue per brand increased across creator and corporate segments.
3. Partner Growth Business: 22% YoY decrease in gross profit. Creator-facing sub-segment saw gross profit decline due to market changes, with the number of supported creators on a decreasing trend (slower decline quarter-over-quarter); publisher-facing sub-segment remained stable, with stable gross profit per publisher. Japan saw a return to growth amid market changes, while Southeast Asia and Greater China/India posted negative growth. Combined, all three segments brought total group gross profit to 5.143 billion yen (15% YoY growth, 20% YoY growth excluding forex impact), on total revenue of 13.202 billion yen (10% YoY growth, 14% YoY growth excluding forex impact).

• Management maintained the full-year 2025 December fiscal year guidance first presented in the prior quarter, with no changes to underlying assumptions or target numbers.
• Full-year performance is tracking above the prior year's progress rate against guidance, with the reported Q2 net profit impact from forex losses within management's original expectations.
• Full material earnings contribution from internal AI adoption and global operational standardization is not expected until the 2026 December fiscal year.
• The acquisition of Vibula is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2025, in line with the current timeline.

• Ongoing unfavorable market changes in the creator economy have driven a year-over-year decline in revenue and gross profit for the Partner Growth segment, with continued pressure on creator-facing business metrics.
• Approximately half of the company's revenue is denominated in foreign currency. Yen appreciation against the US dollar dragged down reported results in Q2, including a 230 million yen unrealized forex loss that reduced reported net profit to 125 million yen.
• Persistently low advertising yields across the global ad market continue to pressure revenue in the publisher-side Partner Growth business.
• Expansion in high-growth areas like corporate marketing and EC requires targeted investment, leading to controlled increases in costs including depreciation (from office expansion) and IT expenses tied to business growth.

The full Q&A section is hosted in an external linked document, and no transcribed Q&A content is included in the provided transcript.