Mixi Inc

TSE:2121

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q1

[Kohei Shimamura, executive]

Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend today's financial results briefing. I am Shimamura, CFO and Senior Corporate Officer.

Today, I will explain according to the agenda on Page 2. Please turn to Page 3. This is the executive summary. I will now explain the details.

Please refer to Page 4. Let me start by explaining our financial status. Please turn to Page 5. This is a quarterly consolidated income statement for the first quarter.

Net sales were JPY 29.2 billion; EBITDA, JPY 3.3 billion; operating income, JPY 2.2 billion; and profit attributable to owners of parent, JPY 1.3 billion, representing lower sales and profits year-on-year. Profits were down mainly due to a decline in sales of MONSTER STRIKE and higher costs for the MONSTER STRIKE series.

Next is Page 6. This is the quarterly consolidated performance trends. From Page 7, I will explain the business status by segment. Page 8. This is a review of the Sports segment. Net sales increased 18.8% year-on-year to JPY 7.5 billion. Sales growth was mainly led by increased ticket sales for TIPSTAR and Chariloto in the publicly managed betting sports business and by the CHIBAJETS advancement to the championship and higher spectator numbers for F.C.TOKYO in the Spectator Sports business.

EBITDA loss decreased year-on-year due to increased sales that I just explained as well as the dissolution of the joint venture in the first half of last year.

Please turn to Page 9. This is the net sales trend for Chariloto and TIPSTAR. Sales increased 12.5% year-on-year. If we exclude the impact of an accounting change made in the previous quarter, sales increased 6.5% year-on-year.

Please turn to Page 10. This is the status of TIPSTAR. TIPSTAR maintained positive EBITDA trend, and we continue to make service improvements. In the first quarter, we made social bidding feature improvements, including the renewal of the Mirror Bets feature. We will continue to make further improvements and when growth in social KPIs are viewed, we will switch to aggressive investment aiming for significant business growth.

Please turn to Page 11. The status of the Spectator Sports Business. The CHIBAJETS advanced to the championship and finished as the runners-up. In the regular season, the team set B.League records for our most wins, highest wins percentage and most consecutive wins at 24 wins.

Also F.C.TOKYO at the game held in May at the Japan National Stadium achieved the highest number of home team attendees in its history. Under the new structure, we will continue to aim for higher positions.

Moving on to Page 12. I will explain about the Lifestyle segment. Page 13, please. Net sales increased 31.1% year-on-year to JPY 2.4 billion, due mainly to the growth of FamilyAlbum. EBITDA was negative mainly due to investments in overseas user acquisition and structure reinforcement.

Page 14. This is the status of monetization expansion of FamilyAlbum in Japan and overseas. In the current fiscal year, FamilyAlbum has built a solid revenue base in Japan by leveraging its user assets and its promoting user acquisition and monetization expansion overseas.

Prints underwent a renewal last summer and are performing well in Japan as well as overseas. We have been able to develop a compelling product lineup, both in Japan and overseas.

Page 15, I will explain the Digital Entertainment segment. Page 16. Net sales were JPY 18.8 billion, and EBITDA was JPY 6.9 billion. MONSTER STRIKE net sales declined year-on-year, but remain in line with our forecast. EBITDA was down year-on-year due to the impact of the revenue decline as well as increase in costs related to the MONSTER STRIKE series. The 10th anniversary measures for MONSTER STRIKE have been well received. More details will follow.

Please turn to Page 17. This is the status of MONSTER STRIKE. In the first quarter, as a result of implementing various measures, performance was in line with the forecast made at the beginning of the period. ARPU decreased year-on-year, but MAU decreased only slightly. In July, MAU was positive year-on-year due to offline events and IP collaborations, we are gaining confidence in our operations.

Please turn to Page 18. This is the status of 10th anniversary measures. MONSTER STRIKE will celebrate its 10th anniversary in October. At the offline event in July, we had a large number of users enjoying the event with peak viewership for the live streaming exceeding 400,000.

With MONSTER STRIKE character names, trending at #1 on social networking services, the 10th anniversary campaign got off to a strong start. We will aim to boost MONSTER STRIKE's 10th anniversary with large-scale promotions and IP collaborations and aim to achieve upside in future business performance.

Please turn to Page 19. I'd like to explain our initiatives for the MONSTER STRIKE Economic Sphere. For the MONSTER STRIKE series, we collaborated with the popular VTuber group hololive and Tower of Sky, which was released last year. We also released one new title in the first quarter and one in the second quarter. We will continue to actively invest in MONSTER STRIKE IP to expand the MONSTER STRIKE Economic Sphere.

Now to Page 20, please. I'd like to explain our Investment segment. Please turn to Page 21. Due to IPOs of stocks held by VC funds in which we invest, net sales were JPY 0.3 billion, and EBITDA was JPY 0.2 billion.

Please turn to Page 22. Today, we have resolved to invest about USD 50 million in an Indian startup companies. Our investment targets are start-ups, deploying B2C services mainly in the entertainment industry. India has attractive demographics and market environment where face-to-face communication among family and friends is valued. It is an ideal market for our company, which focuses on user communication for differentiation. Through investments in Indian start-ups, we aim to create synergy with our existing business.

Please turn to Page 23. This is the results forecast progress. First quarter results were in line with our forecast. The MONSTER STRIKE 10th anniversary measures launched in July have been well received. And with more measures being planned, we will aim for further upside.

Please turn to Page 24. In the first quarter, although there were no upside beyond the plan, steady progress was made in each of our core business. In FamilyAlbum, upfront investments in overseas user acquisition and system reinforcement progressed steadily and the 10th anniversary measures of MONSTER STRIKE are starting up strongly.

In addition, we were able to launch initiatives such as investment in the Indian market in order to create global synergies in each of our core businesses. We will continue to promote initiatives in each of our businesses to create upside.

Thank you very much for your attention.

[Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]