Teijin Ltd

TSE:3401

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q1

[Akimoto Uchikawa, executive]

Good afternoon. This is Akimoto Uchikawa, President and CEO. Naoki Hamashima, General Manager for Investor and Public Relations Department, and myself will be giving the presentations today. We apologize for the last-minute changes.

Let us get started. Results for the first quarter of FY 2023 and the full year outlook. There are 2 key points. First, the first quarter results. As earnings dropped significantly at the end of last fiscal year, I would like to start by comparing with the fourth quarter of last fiscal year. Quarter-on-quarter, the operating income increased by JPY 6.2 billion to JPY 4.2 billion.

In Materials, operating income increased due to the desired effects of group reforms measures on profitability improvement and a recovery from the temporary production problems as there was a fire at the aramid material plant towards the end of the year and equipment failures in the composite business in the U.S. last summer. We were able to recover from this temporary production disruptions, resulting in profit increase. In Healthcare, a slight increase as a rebound from seasonal factors in Q4, such as restrained purchase of pharmaceuticals and concentration of expenses.

Now year-on-year comparison. Operating income decreased by JPY 6.6 billion at JPY 4.2 billion. The background was as follows: in Materials, profit decreased as there were some lingering impact of the planned fire occurring in the previous fiscal year and delayed recovery of the Chinese economy. In Healthcare, in June of last year, as the patent expired, there were market entries of generic alternatives to FEBURIC. So during Q1 of last year, we were selling FEBURIC on a full scale, while, this year, we felt the impact of generics and therefore, a big drop year-on-year.

As for the outlook for fiscal 2023, basically, no change made to the previous outlook of financial results and dividends. As for 3 underperforming businesses of Aramid, Composites and Healthcare, business reforms for profitability improvement as announced in February will be implemented. We forecast net sales to increase by 3.1% to JPY 1.050 trillion, while operating income is expected to increase 2.7x to JPY 35 billion. In Healthcare, as explained, FEBURIC expects the full year impact of generics market entry. Still, with the eliminations of the impact of temporary production problems in the previous fiscal year as well as the effects of the above-mentioned improvement measures, we expect an increase.

Profit attributable to owners of the parent is forecast to be JPY 13 billion, recovering from a loss in the previous fiscal year. The annual dividend is forecast to be JPY 30 per share, the same as in the previous year.

[Naoki Hamashima, executive]

Next, I, Hamashima, will cover Pages 2 and 3 assumptions regarding the company's main target markets. Overall assumption is for the demand to remain firm. In aramid, automotive, industrial materials and ballistic and protective apparel markets saw steady progress in demand during Q1. We expect this to continue in Q2 onward.

In Resin, in electrical and electronic equipment, delay in the recovery of the Chinese economy, slowdown in Europe and the U.S. economy resulted in the continued slow demand. We expect demand will continue to be low in Q2 onward.

In automotive, in Japan, China and Asia, demand recovered as the shortages of semiconductors and other parts resolved mostly. We expect demand will remain firm Q2 onward.

For carbon fibers, in aircraft market, demand for passenger aircraft was strong due to recovery in passenger numbers. For Q2 onward, we expect demand to remain firm. For composites, U.S. automotive demand remained firm in Q1, although there was some demand decline in some automotive types. For Q2 onward, we expect demand to remain firm overall.

In Fibers & Products Converting, in fiber materials and apparel, demand remained steady in the U.S. and China, but low in Europe. Consumption in Japan was high in Q1. From Q2 onward, the European and U.S. markets will be sluggish due to inflation and rising interest rates. The Japanese market is expected to remain strong. For industrial materials in Japan and China, inventory adjustment was underway in the automotive supply chain. Inventory adjustments will gradually be mitigated in Q2 onward.

Page 3. In Healthcare, for pharmaceuticals, market size of gout and hyperuricemia drug treatments is shrinking due to the market entry of generic drugs, despite an ongoing increase in the number of patients suffering from these diseases. The market for diabetes treatments grew slightly, but competition in remains fierce. Since medical institutions continue to impose restrictions on in-person visits, e-promotion was continuously enhanced. This will continue in Q2 onwards.

In Home Healthcare, HOT market will stay flatter, while CPAP will continue to grow as related examinations will gradually recover. In IT business, market for e-comics is expected to remain firm.

Page 6 shows the highlights of the results for the first quarter. Net sales, JPY 244.8 billion, down 3.5% quarter-on-quarter, up 0.4% year-on-year. Operating income, JPY 4.2 billion, turned to profitability quarter-on-quarter but down 60.8% year-on-year. Profit attributable to owners of parent was similarly JPY 1.9 billion, turned to profitability quarter-on-quarter but down 74.5% year-on-year.

Page 7, the highlights compared with the first quarter of fiscal 2022 by segment. Overall, recovery in Materials made a great contribution to an improvement of JPY 6.2 billion. I will explain the Materials in detail later. In aramid, the decline in natural gas prices, its continuing declining trends and improvement in plant operations resulting from recovery from fire were favorable factors. Also in Composites, we saw desired effects of profitability improvement measures. Fibers & Products Converting profit increased as increased sales in fiber materials in apparel field were good, both in Japan and abroad, while industrial materials also achieved firm sales.

Healthcare profit increased slightly due to rebound from seasonal factors in Q4, such as restrained purchase in pharmaceuticals before drug price revisions and the concentration of expenses. In IT, Business Solutions field saw a decline in profit due to a seasonal factor that is centration of delivery timing in Q4.

Next, progress on the Teijin Group reforms for profitability improvement, CEO, Uchikawa, will take the floor again.

[Akimoto Uchikawa, executive]

So using the following 3 pages, I would like to talk about the reforms for profitability improvement as announced in February. I'd like to give you an update, Page 8.

Near the upper half of the page in the box, you can see the gist of our improvement measures. We said we will carry out structural reforms company-wide, focusing on improving the profitability of 3 underperforming businesses; Aramid, Composites, and Healthcare, and reform our management structure of corporate officers and headquarter staff. And based on these 2 pillars, we said we aim to increase earnings by JPY 30 billion or more on a full year basis, as you can see in that slide. Let me get to the specifics of each business, starting with Composites on Page 8.

In Composites business, as recovery from the temporary factors, there were equipment breakdowns at our plant last year. And we said we will recover from those. And the second is after completing the recovery, improve the profitability through reforms for the overall operations starting from sales, procurement to production. And to execute this in North America, our main stay, we will implement selection and concentration. Bar graphs on the lower right show the image of operating income improvement. Temporary factors from the equipment breakdown, JPY 6 billion; and reform for profitability improvement for the entire operation from sales procurement to production, JPY 13 billion.

On the left-hand side, you can see the trend of monitoring items. As you can see, labor cost ratio, turnover ratio and scrap cost ratio all improving as planned. And in terms of the operating income, which suffered in the third and fourth quarters, we see a V-shaped recovery to a certain extent in the first quarter of this fiscal year.

Looking at the details. First, recovery from the temporary factors. This proceeded steadily. And the plants in the neighborhood were providing support and therefore, their productivity suffered, but now they are returning to the normal rate of operation. And the productivity improvements are to be improved as planned.

But looking at the plant where the equipment failure occurred, we have yet to see the achievement of the operational stabilization. It is still in progress and we have yet to achieve that target, including the repair expenses costing more than expected. In other words, of the JPY 6 billion expected benefit, we have yet to achieve that. Whereas for JPY 13 billion, the operational improvement from sales procurement to production, things are proceeding as planned.

So the key monitoring items are showing steady improvement, and we will execute them going forward. To concentrate our resources to North America, we were allocating less to other regions, and we have decided to withdraw from the China Composites business. Please look at Page 26 for details.

Page 9, the Aramid business. The progress of the recovery plans. In Aramid business, at the end of last year, there was a fire at the raw material plant. So recovering from that is one factor. And the other is to strengthen on-site capabilities triggered by the fire that is because the work -- construction work to expand the capacity had already completed, but even before the fire, the operation was not stable and therefore, we were not able to leverage the expanded capacity.

So we wanted to recover our strength, and that is part of our reform efforts. On the lower right-hand side, you can see the image of operating income improvement, temporary factor recovery JPY 7 billion, and reforms for profitability improvement through on-site capabilities enhancement so as to leverage the expanded capacity JPY 7 billion, and to have resilience to fluctuating natural gas prices, which continue to hurt us throughout the year last year.

First, regarding the recovery from temporary factors. As reported already, by the end of FY '22, we were able to return to normal conditions physically, and we have been able to improve the production and increase the production at the yarn spinning process. But for the stable production and supply, we have yet to build sufficient inventory and this will take place in Q2. The production volume will return to the planned volume in Q2, and the sales volume should follow.

In terms of strengthening the on-site capabilities triggered by the fire, we are seeing the productivity improvement. And in terms of response to the natural gas prices, we were able to execute forward contract lower than planned and this is having a positive impact as well. On the lower left-hand side, you can see the trend of production volume and natural gas price.

In terms of the production volume, as you can see, last fiscal year, we were not fully utilizing the expanded capacity, but at least we were able to return to that state. And from now on, we will be leveraging the expanded capacity to improve the production. As for the operating income trends, as shown on the upper right-hand corner, it bottomed in Q4 and the shaped recovery has been achieved so far.

Lastly, but not the least, the third area, Healthcare. The progress is as follows. In Healthcare, we want to utilize our business platforms, a very unique business platform based on Home Healthcare. We wanted to narrow down on the areas utilizing the business platforms. And therefore, the first thing we said we will do is to drive the licensing of drugs for rare diseases and intractable diseases. And the second is to utilize the business platforms, we will be pursuing the adequate resource scale through structural reforms.

And at the same time, last year, OSTABALO, a new drug was launched last year, but we said as a third pillar, we will maximize the existing products. These are the 3 pillars we set for Healthcare. Regarding number one, drug licensing, we have yet to announce any specific drug names, but things are progressing as planned.

Regarding number two, structural reforms for adequate resource scale. As part of that, we are driving horizontal division of drug discovery research functions. And we have recently concluded the final contract with Axcelead, Inc., for the establishment of a drug discovery research joint venture. And regarding number three, maximizing the existing products, things are progressing as planned. So in Q2 onward, we will stick to the target values.

Regarding number two, the horizontal division of drug discovery research functions, on the lower half, you can see that overseas, including nonclinical research, the horizontal division of drug discovery research functions are underway. To catch this momentum, we are to jointly establish a joint venture with Axcelead, a leading company in this field in Japan. And we will be providing resources, including facilities and personnel, so as to establish a strong function.

And we are to maximize the drug discovery capability through these efforts. And those are the progress of the 3 measures for profitability improvement. Thank you for your attention.

From Page 12 onward, Hamashima will present first quarter results compared to the previous year by segment.

[Naoki Hamashima, executive]

Page 12. Materials segment. Net sales, JPY 105.8 billion; operating loss JPY 2 billion, a deterioration of JPY 1.3 billion. On the right-hand side, you can see the comments by subsegment. Aramid, lower sales and profit, although the physical recovery from the raw material plant fire had proceeded ahead of schedule, recovering production volume was still in progress, causing a shortage of inventories available for sale. Operating income was boosted by price revisions and lower price of natural gas, while an increase in plant fixed cost adversely affected the business, primarily a sharp rise in unit labor costs as well as high inventory amount at the beginning of the term to increase cost in the previous year.

Resin, lower sales, while operating income almost the same. The delayed recovery of the Chinese economy and the slowdown in the European and U.S. economies kept sales volume as low as in the previous year. The spread remained almost the same despite a drop in selling prices due to the fall in material and fuel prices.

Carbon fibers, higher sales and profit. Sales of aircraft products were firm, while sales of products for industrial applications, partially slowed down, which resulted in sales mix improvement. Against the backdrop of reduced material and fuel prices, selling prices were maintained, resulting in an improvement in profit ratio.

Composite, sales increased, while operating income was almost the same. Sales volume remained similar year-on-year due to production adjustments in some programs despite general firm automotive demand. We are seeing the effects of selling price revisions on raw material inflation. Plant fixed costs increased mainly due to a sharp rise in unit labor costs and maintenance costs, while profitability improvement progressed in North America. Overall, operating income was almost the same year-on-year.

Next, Page 13, Fibers & Products Converting. Net sales JPY 75.6 billion; operating income JPY 3.1 billion, up JPY 1.4 billion. In Industrial Materials, sales of polyester staple fiber for water treatment filters and infrastructure reinforcement remained firm. In fiber materials and apparel, both sales of textile and apparel products for U.S. and Chinese markets and apparel, including heavy apparel and casual wear, in Japan remained strong.

In Healthcare, net sales were JPY 35.8 billion, and operating income was JPY 4.8 billion, down JPY 6.4 billion year-on-year. Bridge chart is shown on the lower left-hand corner. As you can see, main factor was sales volume decrease, mostly of FEBURIC affected by the market entry of generics.

Page 14, IT segment. Net sales JPY 16.2 billion; operating income JPY 1.8 billion, up JPY 0.3 billion. In IT segment, performance remained firm for both Internet business and Business Solutions. Others, net sales JPY 11.5 billion, operating loss JPY 1.1 billion, an improvement of JPY 0.1 billion year-on-year, coming from steady performance in all fields of battery materials, orthopedic implantable medical devices and regenerative medicine.

Page 15, nonoperating items and extraordinary items. In nonoperating items, a major change is interest expenses, JPY 1.1 billion last year versus JPY 3.6 billion, an increase of JPY 2.5 billion, which reflects higher interest rates in the U.S. and Europe. Among extraordinary items, gain on sales of investment securities, JPY 4.1 billion last year versus JPY 2.4 billion, an increase of JPY 1.3 billion coming from a progress in reduction in cross shareholdings.

Next, Slide 16, financial position. Total assets, liabilities and net assets all increased compared with the end of March. Main factors being, as shown on the right, the impact of exchange rates. With the depreciation of the yen, assets held by overseas, entities increased in the yen terms. Changes in interest-bearing debt reflects the impact of exchange rates as well as increase in borrowing in the U.S. and Europe.

As for changes in total assets, as shown below, inventory has increased by JPY 18.6 billion. In addition to the impact of exchange rates, there was an inventory increase in aramid as operation returned to normal. These are the results for the first quarter. From here, I'd like to talk about the outlook for FY '23.

Page 18. As mentioned earlier, no change from the outlook announced in May. Net sales JPY 1.050 trillion; operating income JPY 35 billion; profit attributable to owners of the parent JPY 13 billion. And as shown in the bottom, the dividend is forecast to be kept at JPY 30 per share.

Next, moving on to Page 20. Net sales and operating income forecast by segment. In the table at the bottom, arrows indicate the trends compared to the previous year and the previous forecast. No change from the previous forecast. Compared to the previous year, overall, recovery in Materials is the main factor with a big increase in operating income, JPY 22.1 billion from JPY 12.9 billion to JPY 35 billion. Details of Materials will be covered in the next page.

As for Fibers & Products Converting, flat, with Japanese and overseas demand remaining firm in both Fiber Materials and Apparel and Industrial materials. Healthcare is expect to decline, mainly affected by a sales volume decrease of FEBURIC due to market entry of generic drugs. IT is firm in Internet business, others decline as the launch of CDMO business will require upfront costs.

Page 21, Materials, details by subsegment. Overall, as shown in the bridge chart in the upper right, we expect an increase from a loss of JPY 21.3 billion last year to JPY 11 billion this year, up JPY 32.3 billion. Of this, JPY 30 billion is the expected effect of profitability improvement measures for this fiscal year, as mentioned earlier. Trends and factors by subsegments, as shown in the lower chart. Year-on-year, aramid expects an increase, main factors being the production and sales increase due to the removal of production restriction and the realization of the effects of production, facility expansion, elimination of the impact of the fire and price declines of materials and fuels.

Resin, flat, with sales volume remaining almost the same as last year due to continued low demand. Carbon fibers, increase, with sales mix improvement due to the further recovery in aircraft demand and sales volume increase due to the full operation of the new plant in North America. Composites expects profitability improvement as a result of renegotiation on prices and cost reduction measures as well as the elimination of additional cost due to the impact of the equipment breakdown and the reduction of the impact of the labor shortage.

On the right hand, we are comparing with the previous forecast. For Materials overall, no change, but by subsegment, some changes as some are doing better than others. For aramid, as materials and fuel prices are declining more than expected, we project an upside over the previous forecast. For resin, a decline from the previous forecast due to a delay in economic recovery in China.

Carbon fibers, no change. Composite, expect lower profit, as mentioned earlier. There's a delay in operational stabilization after the completion of damaged equipment refurbishment as well as a decrease of sales volume for several programs, which is part of the external factors.

So we're expecting a decline in resin and composites to be made up for by an increase in aramid.

Next, Page 22, Fibers & Products Converting and Healthcare. For Fibers & Products Converting, operating income, JPY 10 billion, up JPY 0.3 billion year-on-year. Positive factors in Industrial Materials as well as negative factors in Fiber Materials and Apparel with sluggish overseas market.

Healthcare operating income, JPY 16.5 billion, down JPY 8.7 billion, affected by a sales volume decrease of FEBURIC due to the market entry of generic drugs and drug price revisions as well as a decrease in licensing income, as shown in the bridge chart.

Page 23, the last page to cover. For IT segment, operating income, JPY 9 billion, up JPY 0.9 billion with steady progress in both Internet business and Business Solutions. Others, operating loss of JPY 3.5 billion, which is JPY 2 billion worse than the previous year due to upfront costs required for the launch of a CDMO business in the field of regenerative medicine and orthopedic implantable devices. That concludes our presentation. Thank you for your kind attention.

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