Link and Motivation Inc

TSE:2170

Earnings Call Transcript 2022-Q1

[Yoshihisa Ozasa, executive]

I am Ozasa, Chairman and Representative Director of Link and Motivation. I'll start financial results briefing of Link and Motivation for the first quarter of 2022.

Here's today's agenda. Firstly, I'll give you a company overview. Secondly, business report, consolidated results for the first quarter. Thirdly, I'll report on progress and growth strategies centered on the Organizational Development Division.

Firstly, company overview. Our mission is: Through motivation engineering, we provide opportunities to transform organizations and individuals and create a more meaningful society.

We have 3 divisions: Organizational Development Division provides support for creating motivation companies that individuals choose. Individual Development Division provides support for creating individuals' i-Companies that organizations choose. Matching Division provides opportunities to link organizations and individuals.

We also have venture incubation business. We changed business classification slightly this time. So far, Organizational Development Division was divided into Consulting & Cloud business and Event & Media business.

Event business included in Event & Media business was transferred to Consulting & Cloud business. As a result, Organizational Development Division was reclassified into Consulting & Cloud business and Media business or mainly IR support business, there was no change to Individual Development Division.

As Domestic Temp Staff business was transferred, Matching Division was reclassified into ALT Placement business and Personnel Placement business for easiness to understand.

I will move on to the second item, business report. Consolidated results for the first quarter, revenues were flat. Adjusted operating income and operating income increased substantially year-on-year.

Adjusted operating income increased 37.5% and operating income increased 28.3%. Net income also increased substantially due to structural reforms, including the transfer of the Domestic Temp Staff business and office relocations. Adjusted operating income and the line items below it increased substantially.

This slide shows revenues and gross profit by segment. Gross profit increased as expected in all divisions. Gross profit was up 3.1% year-on-year in Organizational Development Division, up 24.7% in Individual Development Division, and up 6.1% in Matching Division.

Now I'll explain results of each division. In Consulting & Cloud business, revenues and gross profit both increased significantly year-on-year due to success in introductions of cloud-based products at major companies.

In particular, cloud business increased substantially year-on-year by 18.7%. In IR support business, revenues and gross profit both decreased year-on-year due to a delay in the timing of delivery of a large-scale project.

The graph on the right shows Motivation Cloud series monthly fee revenue on March 31 of the 4 years. As introductions of cloud series were promoted successfully mainly at major companies, monthly fee revenue grew 24.1% year-on-year.

This slide shows Individual Development Division. In Career School business, revenues decreased slightly and gross profit increased substantially year-on-year. Gross profit increased substantially due to growth in DX support for individuals at companies, so-called business for corporations. Year-on-year growth was 26.9%.

In Cram School business, revenues and gross profit both increased year-on-year as the number of enrolled lease increased due to recovery in new enrollments.

The graph on the right shows the first quarter revenue from DX support for individuals at companies of 2020, 2021 and 2022. It grew significantly year-on-year by 106.1%.

This slide shows Matching Division. In ALT Placement business, revenues and gross profit both decreased year-on-year due to temporary school closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Personnel Placement business, revenues and gross profit both increased substantially year-on-year mainly due to the growth of OpenWork Recruiting. Revenues were up 29.7% and gross profit was up 31.8% year-on-year.

The graph on the right shows OpenWork Recruiting revenue growth rate. We don't disclose actual numbers. This graph shows an index supposing 2020 first quarter revenues as 100. It was 347% in the first quarter of 2022. The platform was originally a valuable word-of-mouth platform for getting a job or finding a new job and is gradually transformed into a recruiting platform.

This slide shows consolidated SG&A expenses. Total SG&A expenses increased slightly year-on-year or almost flat. The amount of the decrease in expenses for office relocation was reallocated to investment for growth. It is a well-balanced SG&A structure.

Next, consolidated statements of financial position. Assets decreased due to the transfer of Domestic Temp Staff business and office relocations. Liabilities decreased due to a decrease in trade and other payables. Total equity increased JPY 12 billion due to posting net income.

This slide shows dividends. We continue to pay quarterly dividends. A dividend of JPY 1.9 per share is scheduled to be paid on Friday, June 24. I'll move on to the third item, progress and growth strategies centered on the Organizational Development Division.

This slide shows competitive advantage of the Organizational Development Division by using our core technology Motivation Engineering to diagnose and transform organizations. We provide one-stop support for not just diagnosis, but improvement or transformation of employee engagement.

More specifically, for diagnosis, we have extensive accumulated data. For transformation regarding HR, we can provide one-stop solutions for training, HR systems, such as evaluation and compensation systems and transformation of organizational climate.

We have customer assets and accumulated know-how of approximately 1,800 companies. The Motivation Cloud series has improved employee engagement at corporations and was the #1 share of sales in Japan for 4 consecutive years.

In terms of sales, we have an overwhelming share of 52.8%. As you see here, we will further develop the Motivation Cloud series. As for diagnosis we will ramp up introductions at major companies and conduct localization and accumulate data for each region.

At present, 13 languages can be handled. We will further promote roll out to major global companies. In the context of transformation, we plan to launch new cloud-based services. We expect steady growth from migrating proven services, mainly in the field of human resource development, to the cloud as we did with Motivation Cloud.

This slide shows change in Motivation Cloud series monthly fee revenue. We are making steady progress toward our target of JPY 320 million by the end of 2022.

Major companies account for more than 60% of monthly fee revenue. We expect a big growth with a contribution from a new cloud-based service in the second half. Year-on-year growth was 24.1% in the first quarter.

Amid rapidly growing corporate needs for DX, Individual Development Division provides current customers of the Organizational Development Division with services to improve employee IT skills and expect to generate further synergies.

The graph on the right shows revenues from DX support for individuals at corporations for 2020, 2021 and forecast for 2022. We plan to grow revenues substantially.

This slide shows synergies with Matching Division. Corporate needs for improving employee engagement and recruiting are rapidly growing. The Matching Division is aiming for high growth at OpenWork Recruiting by significantly increasing the number of job openings through stronger cooperation with the Organizational Development Division.

The graph on the right shows OpenWork Recruiting revenue growth rate shown as an index with 2020 revenues as 100%. Revenues will be 305% this year. Let me move on to topics. We were first not only in Japan, but in all of Asia to obtain certification under ISO 30414 guidelines for human capital reporting in recent years, as attention to human capital has increased and initiatives for it have been ramping up worldwide.

We have been driving the market by promoting human capital management. As shown on the bottom right, the #1 item in nonfinancial assets thought to require more disclosure is human capital.

For example, employee engagement, D&I and human resource development, there is a trend to disclose these. Although I repeat myself, we aim at growth through the 3 divisions, in particular, as high growth is expected in Organizational Development Division. We will strengthen synergies with Organizational Development Division.

In that sense, I think the weighing of the 3 divisions became stronger. We are benefiting from the trend of this closure of human capital. I hope you will pay attention to our future progress. Thank you very much for your attention.

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