9412.T

• Overall Financial Performance (FY2025)

  • Consolidated operating revenue reached 127.6 billion yen, a 3.1% year-over-year increase; operating profit was 35.3 billion yen, a 28.3% year-over-year increase; net profit was 23.3 billion yen, a 22% year-over-year increase. All figures hit the revised guidance released in February, and both operating profit and net profit set new all-time records. EBITDA was redefined to "operating profit + depreciation" to better reflect core business profitability, with FY2025 EBITDA at 50.7 billion yen, a 10.8% year-over-year increase.

• Corporate Value Enhancement & Capital Strategy

  • The company maintains a strategy of balancing aggressive growth investment and stable shareholder returns. The hurdle rate for investment was raised from 7% to 8%, aligned with an increase in the expected weighted average cost of capital (WACC) from 7.5% to 8% to improve investment quality. Restricted stock grants will be expanded for executives and introduced for employees to align management and staff incentives with shareholder interests.
  • The FY2026 annual dividend is planned at 48 yen per share, a 6 yen increase from the prior year, based on the core policy of maintaining a payout ratio of 50% or higher. Cumulative shareholder returns from FY2022 to FY2026 are projected to exceed 50 billion yen, exceeding the prior target of 40 billion yen.

• Space Business Growth Strategy

  • Space business is positioned as the core growth driver, with a dual-wheel structure of stable revenue from communications business and high growth from Space Intelligence business, centered on the security sector. The 2030 security segment revenue target was raised sharply from 30 billion yen to over 50 billion yen (representing more than 40% of total space business revenue by 2030), with an expected 30%+ average annual growth from the FY2024 base of 10 billion yen. The target splits into ~20 billion yen for communications, 25 billion yen for Space Intelligence, and ~5 billion yen for emerging fields such as SSA.
  • Growth is supported by a clear expansion trend in Japanese defense space budget, with high alignment between the company's business areas and three key growth domains in Japanese defense policy: stand-off defense capabilities, unmanned asset defense capabilities, and cross-domain operational capabilities. The next defense build-up plan is likely to start one year earlier in 2027, which may further accelerate budget growth.
  • The company pursues an ecosystem-based partnership strategy: collaborating with global satellite operators for communications, strengthening full-value-chain partnerships for Space Intelligence (deepening strategic ties with QPS Institute), and building alliances for emerging fields such as SSA and QKD to accelerate commercialization.

• Media Business Growth Strategy

  • The business targets maintaining over 10 billion yen in annual net profit through 2030, offsetting a gradual decline in traditional broadcast subscription revenue with growth from the Optical Alliance business and Media Solutions business. For the Optical Alliance business, a December 2025 price increase for detached households will deliver full-year benefit in FY2026, with connected households reaching 2.97 million at the end of FY2025, targeting 3.5 million households by 2030 and over 20 billion yen in revenue and over 4 billion yen in net profit by 2030.
  • Media Solutions business leverages the 30-year legacy of SKY Perfect! and the resilient infrastructure of the SKY Perfect Tokyo Media Center to expand outsourced broadcast infrastructure, backup services, and studio/transmission services for media companies and streaming platforms, targeting 7.5 billion yen in revenue in FY2026.
  • SKY Perfect Pictures, the anime IP subsidiary, achieved consecutive annual profits in its first two years of operation, with Itochu Corporation increasing its stake to 49% to strengthen overseas distribution and merchandise capabilities. A new 3D anime project based on popular social media characters is scheduled to broadcast on NTV and expand globally with merchandise.

• FY2026 (ending March 2027) Consolidated Guidance: The company projects consolidated operating revenue of 135.0 billion yen, operating profit of 39.0 billion yen, and net profit of 27.0 billion yen, representing 10% year-over-year growth in operating profit and over 15% growth in net profit. This maintains a target of revenue and profit growth for both business segments.
• 2030 Long-Term Target Update: The consolidated net profit target was raised from the prior 28.0 billion yen to over 35.0 billion yen. Space business will target 25.0 billion yen in after-tax profit, and Media Business will maintain at least 10.0 billion yen in profit. The consolidated operating revenue target is 185.0 billion yen, with an EBITDA target of 85.0 billion yen (up from ~50.0 billion yen in FY2025).
• Investment Plan Guidance: The 3-year (FY2025-FY2027) total investment target of 220.0 billion yen is maintained. 63.5 billion yen was invested in FY2025, with 70.0 billion yen planned for FY2026 and 85.0 billion yen planned for FY2027. After adjusting for temporary fixed-term deposit investment in FY2025, real investment in FY2026 will exceed the prior year level. Excluding one-off factors, the company projects operating cash flow of ~54.0 billion yen in FY2026, and will maintain total assets at ~410.0 billion yen while converting cash to high-return space business assets. The baseline guidance assumes no external borrowing, but the company will flexibly consider external borrowing for funding if needed based on market conditions.
• Balance of Growth Targets: The security revenue target for 2030 was sharply upward revised from 30 billion yen to over 50 billion yen, reflecting stronger-than-expected demand growth and current project progress.

1. Space Business: FY2025 actual operating revenue was 69.8 billion yen (54.7% of total consolidated operating revenue), with a 5.1 billion yen year-over-year increase. Operating expenses were 45.7 billion yen, a 3 billion yen increase. Operating profit hit 24.1 billion yen, and segment net profit was 16.1 billion yen, both increasing year-over-year. Growth was driven by on-track progress in domestic satellite communications (including JAXA ground station services) and Space Intelligence business. For FY2026 (after the ~4 billion yen video network service transfer to Media Business), the segment forecasts operating revenue of 72.5 billion yen, operating profit of 25.5 billion yen, and net profit of 17.0 billion yen, projecting both revenue and profit growth.
2. Media Business: FY2025 actual operating revenue was 64.3 billion yen (45.3% of total consolidated operating revenue), with a 1.2 billion yen year-over-year decrease driven by lower viewing subscription revenue, though the Optical Alliance business performed strongly. Operating expenses decreased 6.9 billion yen year-over-year to 52.4 billion yen, due to one-off factors (end of Bundesliga broadcast rights, equity method accounting for the customer center subsidiary) and lower depreciation. As a result, operating profit was 11.9 billion yen (5.6 billion yen year-over-year increase), and segment net profit was 7.7 billion yen (3.3 billion yen year-over-year increase), with significant profit growth. For FY2026 (after adding the ~4 billion yen transferred video network service), the segment forecasts operating revenue of 68.0 billion yen, operating profit of 15.0 billion yen, and net profit of 10.5 billion yen, projecting both revenue and profit growth.

• Growing price competition pressure in the international satellite communications market is increasing, which has led to a reevaluation of the competitive positioning of some communications business, resulting in a downward adjustment to the long-term revenue target for the communications segment.
• Large-scale new satellite investments will lead to a significant increase in depreciation expense starting from the late 2020s, which will pressure near-term net profit growth before new revenue streams fully ramp up.
• The development and launch schedule of new satellites and SSA payloads depends on third-party rocket manufacturing and launch schedules, which can lead to delays (as seen in the one-year delay of the JSAT-31 launch to 2029).
• Large-scale strategic investments in the space sector carry inherent market and technology risks, and the profitability of new ventures such as Space Compass is not yet assured, with no positive earnings contribution projected for the 2030 target.

Q: What is the reasoning behind setting an 85 billion yen 2030 EBITDA target, given rising depreciation from large-scale space investments? / A: Management redefined EBITDA to be based on operating profit (from a prior net profit base) specifically to make core business profitability trends easier to observe. Net profit-based calculations are distorted by one-off items such as securities gains and impairment charges, so the new EBITDA metric better reflects the underlying earnings power of the company's business as large depreciation from new investments kicks in. The target reflects the expectation that EBITDA growth will outpace the increase in depreciation, delivering growing cash generation capacity over the long term.

Q: Why is the 2026 Media Business operating profit expected to increase 2 billion yen on just a 0.1 billion yen revenue increase, and what is the growth outlook for the 7.5 billion yen Media Solutions target? / A: The large profit increase primarily comes from cost reductions: one-time savings from the end of Bundesliga broadcast rights and the conclusion of Connected TV business validation, plus ongoing cost cuts including customer center digitalization, reduced internal usage costs at the Tokyo Media Center, and distribution platform cost reviews. The 7.5 billion yen FY2026 target is built from cumulative projections for playout services, Media HUB services, and the transferred video network business, and represents a reasonable year-over-year increase in revenue.

Q: How does SKY Perfect JSAT evaluate large potential strategic space investment opportunities from global players, and what is the approach to partnership? / A: Management notes that rapid industry change is pushing global satellite operators to pursue partnerships to counter growing competition, and the company will evaluate opportunities on a case-by-case basis. The key criterion is whether the investment will deliver stable cash flow for the company in the East Asia and Pacific region for the Ka-band and Ku-band capacity the company would operate. The company is open to flexible structures: standalone investment, partnerships with Japanese domestic players, or alliances with other Asian operators, and will only pursue partnerships that align on strategic goals to avoid misalignment.

Q: What drives the expected 10 billion yen revenue growth in security-focused communications business from FY2026 to 2030, reaching 20 billion yen total? / A: The growth projection is based on the deployment of three new satellites: Superbird-9, JSAT-31, and JSAT-32. These new satellites add Ka-band capacity that SKY Perfect JSAT did not previously hold at scale, which enables resilient communications for small mobile platforms such as drones, a growing demand area in the security sector. This new capacity will allow the company to capture new demand to deliver the 10 billion yen revenue increase.