Rakuten Group Inc

TSE:4755

Earnings Call Transcript 2022-Q1

[Operator]

[Interpreted] Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for coming or participating despite your busy schedule. We now would like to start Rakuten Group's Fiscal year 2022, first quarter earnings results meeting.

We have disclosed the latest consolidated financial reports at 3:00 p.m. today. You can view this data on our corporate website page for investors, along with the presentation documents that is used in this meeting.

I'd like to now introduce the presenter, the Chairman and CEO of Rakuten Group, Mr. Hiroshi Mikitani, or Micky. So, Mr. Mikitani, Micky, please start your presentation on the latest financial results.

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, this is streamed live. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for joining us. So this is fiscal year 2022, first quarter consolidated financial results presentation of our group. Now today, I would like to speak on 3 topics.

First, this year, we, Rakuten Group, celebrates its 25th anniversary and based on that milestone, we're going to look towards 2030, which is 8 years from now, what is the strategy towards 2030 is what I would like to talk about. And then, of course, the main topic of today, Q1 2022 highlights, and I will also talk about the progress in the different segments. And also this morning, we made this announcement about Rakuten Mobile's news service, so I will explain that as well.

So first of all, the 25th anniversary, as you can see this logo from red to green, this gradation of the color. This also signifies sustainability of different forms, especially carbon neutrality is what we're aiming for, and we're going to take concrete measures towards carbon neutrality. And in that sense, we have used this color changing from red to green. And then towards 2030, we have a long-term plan. The sales or the revenue will not be decelerated, it will grow. And the current operating income margin is 13.5%, but we target over 20%.

So if you do the math or the multiplication, you can actually guess what we're aiming for, and also profitability or significant profitability for Rakuten Mobile and Rakuten Symphony is the third pillar. Now currently, we have a revenue of JPY 1.7 trillion as revenue. And of course, GMS growth is to be maintained at this very high level. And operating income margin. The profitable services that we are having already, where we are making further investments, about the average -- growth of margin be on the average, 20%. That's what it means. And so what is profitable now, we will make it even more profitable. And for the existing services, in 8 years' time, all the services will have this level of OI margin.

As for Domestic EC e-commerce GMS of already Internet shopping, credit card, travel, GORA, all these actual transactions make up JPY 5 trillion already, but that will reach JPY 10 trillion or more. So we are to be the largest distribution channel in Japan, and also a top player in the global market as well. For FinTech, credit card, we are by far #1 already. As was already introduced, for Rakuten Bank, we are planning on listing it, going public. And I will come back to this later, but Triple 3 is what we're targeting, and that is our big target for the card. And we think that there will be tremendous contributions made to the revenue and profit. And Mobile and Symphony, we're trying to make profits as well.

So the overall Mobile strategy, the details will be covered later. But basically, mobile subscription will increase. That means more profit for us. And towards the Rakuten Group, there will be higher levels of loyalty. For example, the Rakuten Mobile subscribers will make -- actually purchases on Ichiba, 70% increase is -- a 70% increase is expected. So that is what we're looking at.

So let me go into the main part, which is the highlight of the earnings. So this is a major KPI, Global GTV. When comparing to the last year, it grew by 21.9%, almost 22%, and then we reached JPY 7.3 trillion. And domestic e-commerce GMS, we grew 15.9% in 2-year CAGR. 2020 -- comparing to Q1 2020, we have grown up to this amount and then the consolidated revenue, JPY 437.1 billion, up 11.7% or 12% year-on-year. And the non-GAAP operating income, excluding Mobile logistics investment business and adjustment, we reached the JPY 46 billion, or 8.5% Y-o-Y growth.

And then we are growing, and that's why we made this 8.5% Y-o-Y growth. And the Rakuten Card, particularly this quarter was weak, it grew more. So as for this quarter, we reached JPY 4.1 trillion or 26.1% Y-o-Y and the cardholders topped 26 million and Rakuten Securities now has the domestic largest volume of 7.7 million accounts and Rakuten Bank account reached 12.3 million. These are the major KPI of our business.

So this is -- on top of the standalone KPIs, what about the synergy we see today? And as you can see from this graph, over the month and using the -- at least one of the Rakuten Group Services, it went over JPY 36 million. Comparing to the year before, it's 11.2%. Therefore, we made a large growth here. On top of this and the more than 2 services, the usage among this is 74.8% ratio of users of 2 or more services here. And then -- so the tool -- the largest tool to encourage this is the Rakuten Super Point and Rakuten Point, it's about JPY 530 billion, and we made the issuance of this for the points.

And we don't know about other companies' point program, but the 90% of issued points were being used. So it generates a huge amount of benefit to the business, and it made our Rakuten ecosystem's popularity more and more. So the Rakuten Point program is very unique. For example, SBU that using various services and then the shopping at Rakuten Ichiba, you can gain more points. That is one example. And then offline, such as Rakuten Pay and the other services included. And then Rakuten Point related the payment is available, which is about 60 million different locations. So you can use the Rakuten Points for that. And they're not just holding the point, but also you can make some investment with those points. And then the bitcoin, you can purchase such the crypto currency with points. And then this -- we are going to provide more innovative services in this area.

Okay. Now let's dive into more detail for each business and starting from the Internet services. And then domestic e-commerce GMS 10.0% and JPY 1.3 trillion. And then the revenue, JPY 182.5 billion, it is 11.9% Y-o-Y or 12%. And the non-GAAP operating income, which is JPY 21.5 billion and 77.3% Y-o-Y growth. And let me say the breakdown of this. As you can see from this, the graph in the market price business such as Rakuten Ichiba and Travel and GORA. It's about JPY 2.7 billion OP contribution. So the fundamental is improving, as you can see.

Then what about other vertical or the similar services? How are we different from them? For example, Rakuten Ichiba and other retailers may be having a difficult time. Comparing to that, we grew by about 80.7%. If it comes to the Travel, unfortunately, because of the pandemic and a lot of other problems and the travel or the overall travel industries' GTV was about minus 85.4%. However, us kept flat. And then the April and May, it's growing rapidly.

And the Netsuper, the retail businesses, so comparing to conventional players, we grew our businesses and also to the Rakuten Fashion for the existing boutique or the -- we made the 40% growth. So the -- as for the Japanese fashion industry, we are able to contribute on top of that. So there are various services and then synergy among different services are growing, as you can see from here. For example, Rakuten and Rakuten GORA and the buying the golf items on Rakuten Ichiba and other items to be purchased on Rakuten and make a reservation via GORA.

And then we see 15% growth here. And as for the online supermarket, it grew by 50% overall. And here along Rakuten Beauty, 23% grew. And as for Rakuten Travel, 43%. Well, last year, I think we were quite behind, how -- and also the other fashion 14.2%. So the Rakuten ecosystem or Rakuten economy is getting rooted and then those who are living in that ecosystem is increasing. That's how we interpret this.

And other than that, we started the new things. For example, today, eco is very important. So the circulation economy is often referred at that. And Rakuma, C2C trading platform, we made a huge growth at the C2C platform. In addition to that, we will be providing B2C. And then they will not go to the under merchant of the Rakuten Ichiba, however they want to sell their items to consumers. And then also, we rebranded and then we check their credit and do some transaction based on that.

And to the Netsuper, overall, 24.1% growth we made. So this is available from the Seiyu store and also we have a dedicated semi-automated, the online store delivery, that is about 70% growth. So now we have multiple logistics for online supermarket, it's being newly constructed, and this is the nationwide supermarket and other supermarket can use those logistics. So preferred non-Seiyu brand or the region where Seiyu has no access, even in those locations, we can have Netsuper available to the consumer. Those areas, we will be focusing on today.

And so Rakuten's original philosophy or the purpose was to empower the local economy. So I will not say all, however, in many prefectures or city level or the town, we have some partnership or alliance, so this is about the comprehensive cooperation agreement with many local government. It's not just for the shopping, payment. So we want to activate -- reactivate the local economy. That is our local strategy.

And other Internet services, Ukraine, it's very sad thing happening today and Russia. Actually, these 2 are large market provider and the number of users has been increasing. However, there is not a situation for us to have an advertisement. Therefore, that had negative impact on here. And then the point cash back business and it's growing. And then we did some active marketing here. However, comparing to the year before, we see JPY 622 million Y-o-Y improvement. But comparing to 1 quarter before, we see some short drop, but it's under manageable thing.

Next is FinTech. And there is an obvious growth here. Revenue grew by 5.4% year-on-year. Non-GAAP operating income plus 4.8%. And we are actually growing so much. So we are, by far, #1 already. At this time already, but we are going to be ahead of others furthermore. And Rakuten Bank accounts 12.3 million surpassed and Rakuten Securities accounts surpassed 7.6 million. And so Rakuten Card again was 26 million or more. So 72.1% of the people actually use all of these services -- 71.2% of the people use all of these services. So they're across using them.

And Triple 3, I mentioned already in relation to Rakuten Card. So cards issued, 30 million, shopping GTV, JPY 30 trillion, and GTV share 30%. It's already approaching 27 million in terms of the card issued. So I think the first 30 million, the first 3 target. The first target is within our reach. And JPY 30 trillion, shopping GTV from the JPY 14.5 trillion. You might think that this is ambitious, but digital payment ratio is increasing, QR-code and other payment methods do exist. But when it comes to large amounts to be paid for dining out or others, credit cards are still being used, and that will hold true into the future as well. So I think with digitalization progressing in Japan, we think shopping GTV reaching JPY 30 trillion will be reachable. And once that is achieved, 22.4% market share that we have right now will likely reach 30% in terms of the GTV share.

So Rakuten Securities is next. On a stand-alone basis, yes, the total number of accounts is the largest number, I think that's our estimate. And we're going to increase the accounts and also the amount handled will be -- or the transaction will be increased as well and investment trusts and other products will be enhanced further. And foreign exchange, things are getting better as well. Of course, there are different customer surveys done, but many customers, when they are surveyed, select us, and we're, therefore, the best selected #1 securities company.

And also, when it comes to content and high speed, ease of use, UX, user experience, we're making improvements in that -- on that front as well. Rakuten insurance, life insurance, general insurance, pet insurance included, we're collaborating with different group companies. For example, travel insurance, and when people purchase items on the Rakuten Ichiba, the guarantees given to the purchased items and also card ancillary insurance, among others. In other words, these really maximize the Rakuten ecosystem, so that we will go further into the insurance segment. And in addition, a drone appraisal to appraise the level of damages done is another service, something that only AI can do. We are actually incorporating into our businesses.

And Payment, OMO, online merges with off-line strategy is actually paying off, especially together with the Seiyu into which we invested 20% of the stake. We are conducting demonstration and things are actually happening, and it's accelerating so much. Once this is successful, we will actually team up with other distributors. And I think the e-commerce in Japan compared to the U.S. or China is much smaller. However, I think OMO strategy will bridge the gap and have potential for further growth.

FinTech has to do with the circulation of money and I think things can be handled within the Rakuten Group. And so more than JPY 7 trillion, I think, is already achieved. So for example, cash advances of credit cards or other services, the self-funding can be done within the group, within this ecosystem. Again, this is unprecedented, unique to Rakuten Group, and this is really our strength.

So let's move on to Mobile. As explained, so the first of all, the domestic mobile business and the Rakuten Group varies the service synergy to be purchased. And then so the software platform business Symphony's global business deployment. These are the 3 pillars. So this is a triple strategy that we will be aiming at. And then employees are efforts and your support, we increased the number of base stations. And as of April end, we have more than 44,000 bases and the CASA center, at home or the restaurant inside the building and stores. So we have about 80,000 CASA installment finished. So the -- our network is available anyway, anywhere, and then initially, we had a 30-plus percent and KDDI roaming, and now it become lower than 10%, and it will contribute lowering the cost drastically at the same time.

So we had the KDDI 5 GB at the partner line and then after that, it will go down to 1 MBPS. Well, this will continue, of course. However, the much faster network, or much faster download speed and much faster Internet access will be realized. That will contribute pushing up the usability. With that, Rakuten Mobile and application has been accelerated. So looking back, and what about the speed or velocity of this. And the Rakuten Card, well, when we started Rakuten Card, it was to reach the 5 million, it took 73 months to reach 5 million. But when it comes to the Rakuten Mobile, it was only 26 -- 25 months. So more than the triple speed, we have been accelerating the subscribers number.

So as we keep this -- the trend -- speed trend and then the card, so we can reach 20 million subscribers much faster than the Rakuten Card. So how many Rakuten ecosystem users are using this Rakuten Mobile? Well, the active user 11.3% of the active users subscribe Mobile. In other words, 88% of the users may join Rakuten Mobile subscription. And we have other subscriptions outside. So we are quite optimistic about the user subscription. And then I will explain later, there's -- that we have announced the new pricing plan today. And that is one of the things and also the roaming. So if it becomes unnecessary in order to reduce cost, we will use our switch to our own network. And then this quarter probably will be the bottom of the loss. And we will start improving from here and make profit. And now that scenario is seeable.

And for example, as of end of this June, what we started like a 1-year free plan or 3 months free plan, and then when I made a press conference this morning, and we will hold this out of free of charge, the plan. However, as of the end of June, 100% of the users will become chargeable users. So data usage will be increasing or the up, will it be increasing at least? So the Rakuten dedicated the line area, comparing to the previous year, the number of customers on average data volume has increased by 40.8%. This is average. So if it grows and then our upper limit is JPY 2,980 today. But if everyone becomes to this band and also subscribe to optional services such as unlimited call services or plus alpha support services. If that happens, then it will push up the ARPU. That's our assumption.

And to be specific, let me talk about this new pricing plan. So far, from the 0 to 1 GB, we had JPY 0. That is marketing strategy. And it was because of the pandemic, we have to support the people struggling in the period. And the Mobile network, Mobile service, democratization is the point where the mobile business democratization, expensive is not good. That was our basic policy. That's why we provided this plan. However, the network quality becomes better, and then we have coverage almost completed, including my friend said, Rakuten Mobile is accessible. It's less expensive. Is it okay, only paying for that amount?

So those, who have the more than 2 devices, they started to use Rakuten Mobile only or at least use it as a prime device. So that case is increasing, therefore we have announced this UN-LIMIT VII. And then the -- until 3 GB is JPY 980 and then even it becomes unlimited before tax JPY 2,980. So the 150 GB or 200 GB, I think the users would start using those volume. Even they use that volume, we see this as a cost advantage, and this is a quite compelling pricing strategy. Having said that, so the pricing plan until -- we are shifting to this at the price. So the essentially 4 months free for the -- free up to 1 GB.

So we have the cash back for the first 2 months and the next 2 months, including the consumption tax, point back is the way we reward to the customers. On top of that, we will provide additional extra services, for example, Rakuten Ichiba shopping. At maximum, you will get the 6x points back and then the usual phone call, not using the link, and the 3 months free is available and also various digital services, digital content services, our services and third-party services, essentially those services will be free for 3 months. That is how we are going to do. And for example, the shopping 6x points back, this will start from the June 1.

And if you use Rakuten Mobile, you will have additional points. And then if you are Diamond members, you will have another point. So at maximum, you will get a 6x point back. And then the super sale or other SPU program with those programs, the more you use Rakuten Mobile, the more benefits you can enjoy from the Rakuten Ichiba services and also the Rakuten Group content services. For example, Rakuten Magazine 31 days free and Rakuten Music, 90 days free and the Rakuten NBA, new NBA Championship will start. And in coming for Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards between March will be held here in Japan. And then you can enjoy the service 3 months free, and then Pacific League Special also 3 months free.

These are additional contents we provided. And then, so we received a huge request or need from the consumers, and that is Rakuten Mail or carrier mail, and this will be starting from July 1. This is a planned basis, and this is a free of charge. So email address portability will be started from August.

And Rakuten Link. Well, it is highly appreciated by our users and using Rakuten Link to send and receive e-mails, it is possible now. And then from a business point of view, in addition to this, we will start enterprise services. And the Rakuten Group -- so the Rakuten Ichiba service, I think we created more than 1 million employment opportunities. And then the number of enterprises for the transaction, we have the 400,000 where at least 25% is for Rakuten. And that is the basic answer from the existing clients.

So given that size for this the enterprise services, we expect many companies to join. And then the benefit we are going to provide. For example, if you use Link to make a phone call, it will be free. And also, if you make an international call, if you use Link, it will be free. So that is another differentiation factor.

In relation to that, we have a twin service, so to speak, that is Rakuten Symphony. And this is attracting attention from around the world, the biggest kind of attention. Of course, we have this war in Russia or Ukraine, and people are now talking about security. And especially the free world is talking and focusing on security and Rakuten Symphony in that regard is attracting attention. I think we are one of the companies that are drawing the largest attention. 3,500 engineers are involved. It's not a small service that we're providing. It's something that is like infrastructure, which is now the nature of mobile network. And we are the only. I mean, Rakuten Symphony is the only one that realizes that.

So how big is the market? Well, basically, it's huge, massive. So by 2025, the so-called total addressable market, TAM, is considered to be $120 billion, about JPY 15 trillion, that would be.

And finally, I'd like to talk about overseas and content business. And things are progressing very steadily, especially Rakuten TV in Europe. And there are different -- smart TVs are actually shipped with Rakuten TV channel. Already 52.6 million people use this service, year-on-year growth, 82.5%. Multilingual, streaming service is provided through Rakuten Viki and that is JPY 56.2 million. And Rakuten Kobo at JPY 57.2 million in Rakuten Viber, JPY 1.345 billion (sic) [ 1.36 billion ] and Rakuten Rewards, this is e-commerce in the United States, already USD 2,491 million. So USD 2.4 billion that is.

So 10 year -- 10% year-on-year growth. And the brand awareness of Rakuten is expanding as well. Amongst the Japanese corporations, we're a global company, extending business on a global scale or capable of expanding our business globally. And we are one of the few such companies, 83.7% awareness in Taiwan, 70.1% in the U.S., Spain, 80.8%, France 84.1%, in Canada, 66.1%. So again, the logo or the brand awareness is increasing. I'm sure that in East Europe, including Ukraine, through our social contribution that we extend in the world, the awareness level is increasing.

So this really concludes my briefing on the financial results of the first quarter of fiscal 2022. In a nutshell, we announced this new plan for Rakuten Mobile and digital content services. All of these are bound to grow, and they will grow. And we hope that you will have high expectations for that. So JPY 980 is the amount that we would charge some of the users, that would actually, of course, push up our financial base as well as help us build a better network and synergistic effects, as well as the -- synergistic effects and improved services will come out of that effort. Of course, the economic surroundings has uncertainties, but we will make our utmost effort, despite the current situation. So I hope you will support us in that effort. Thank you.

This concludes our 2022 1st quarter financial results presentation session. Thank you very much.

[Operator]

[Interpreted] We have the management team here ready to answer your questions. Please allow me to introduce them. Hiroshi Mikitani, Kenji Hirose, Masayuki Hosaka, Kentaro Hyakuno, Kazunori Takeda. These 5 executives on the stage.

[Operator Instructions] So from Yomiuri newspaper, it's [ Ichikawa-san ]

[Unknown Attendee]

[Interpreted] So this is [ Ichikawa ] of Yomiuri newspaper is speaking. And then thank you very much for your press conference this morning, too. And as you explained in the presentation, I have a question about new pricing plan. So at this time, you will start this new plan. Why? And this is my question. Because less than 1 GB free and you stop it and then that will contribute to the revenue. But I assume it will not a big contribution. That's my assumption. And then still, you are increasing your subscribers. And then I think you can prioritize to increase the number of subscribers over the pricing plan. So I would like to know the reason why you implement the plan at this point in time?

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, I'm repeating what I've said in my presentation, so unlimited high-speed available network and 97% coverage is already complete. So we increased our service level. That is the fact and understanding by us. And then until 1 GB and this will be 0 to 1 GB is very featured. However, you have more points and also you have the unlimited calls and you are available to access the various contents. So we have added a lot of benefits. So those are the 2 things. So I think these 2 are on par, if we make a comparison.

And as for the revenue contribution, so in order to increase the ARPU, yes, it will be contributing. I cannot come with quantified number. But as for the revenue contribution, it is quite a big portion with this plan. So we said -- we started from the 1 year free and then down to 3 months free, and now this new pricing plan. Every time we launch the program, we had some impact for a short term. But as long as we provide the better services, well, we can charge the appropriate pricing accordingly. And at this level, so we have a quite -- we provide a competitive service to the market. So I believe our subscribers would understand it. I don't think the slowdown of new application will happen. Well, the Rakuten user, I mentioned the 11% is subscribers to the Rakuten Mobile, but we can increase this to 20% or 30%. That is another strategy.

Therefore, so the appropriateness, well, we cannot provide free of charge forever. We need to make a decision at some point in time. So now we have the coverage of 97% and closer to 99%. And I think this is a good milestone for us to change the gear. And the revenue generated from here can be invested into the improvement of the quality of the network, so that we can -- we want our users to satisfy with our services.

[Operator]

[Interpreted] NewsPicks, Mr. Hatani, please.

[Utai Hatani]

[Interpreted] Mr. Hatani of NewsPicks speaking. I have 2 questions. In the presentation, you mentioned this as well, but travel and sports business were hit by the pandemic. Now the financial results doesn't really include that, but we had the Golden Week without any travel restrictions. And also sports is also another area. So what is your prospect for the annualized full year performance?

And also long-term business plan. I think you're going to increase revenue as well as the 20% margin and so forth and to JPY 10 trillion. But what is the challenging part of what you have targeted and where do you focus? So those questions, please.

[Kazunori Takeda, executive]

[Interpreted] Takeda in charge of commerce. I'd like to answer the travel question. Now as you know, for travel, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that segment was hit hard, especially online travel reservations, however, was relatively steady. And there was this shift from the real physical travel to online travel. And so we caught these customers. And now this year, now the quasi-emergency status declaration was lifted. And for the Golden Week holiday season, it was actually beyond the 2018 level. It was almost close to 2019 level. As you know, 2019 Golden week was 10-day long -- very long holiday season. And this year, it was quite close to that and the performance this year was quite close to that, not quite, but close to the -- that level.

[Kentaro Hyakuno, executive]

[Interpreted] I am in charge of sports. Let me address that question. My name is Hyakuno. Sports whether it is baseball or soccer, there is no limit as to how many people in the stadium can attend or watch, especially baseball, home game. For the first time in 947 days, we had a full stadium. So I think we are going back to what -- how things used to be. And so we are going to bring the situation back to the 2019 level for baseball as well as soccer. So I hope you will look forward to that normality coming back.

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] So 2030, well, you asked which part is the most challenging? Well, on the cruising speed, this is what is expected. That's what it means in this presentation. For example, you see GMS domestic travel included as well as others. They are all included in this figure. So I'm sure that people will buy more online. And JPY 10 trillion. When you think about the level overseas, maybe that level of JPY 10 trillion is rather valid. And 20% or more for the margin of -- operating income margin. When you think about the Mobile and Rakuten Symphony, I'm sure that they will be making certain level of profits by 2030, which is 8 years down the road. So I think that's quite possible. The 10% or plus, which is the current growth rate, we would like to, of course, continue that. And this year, 11.7% is the growth rate. So more than 10%, a little more than 10% growth rate.

When you think about the Rakuten Group, we have a very rare ecosystem in the entire world. AI, data, which will be used further. I think they will really support all of the businesses that we -- or the services that we provide. So the level that I have presented, I think, is the minimum that we aim for.

[Operator]

[Interpreted] And the next question is from Asahi Newspaper [ Onoya ].

[Unknown Attendee]

[Interpreted] [ Onoya ] from Asahi Newspaper. So the outlook or forecast, so this time, Mobile loss will be the peak and will be bottoming out. And the outlook for full year forecast, full year, well, you did not disclose any specific numbers. And then the peak of loss will be this quarter. What is the reason behind it? And that is my first question.

And the second one is about your point program. So the net volume PayPay, although this is other company, well, last month, they started to sell the point outside of the company in the next year. They didn't name anyone, but the point issues, number one, maybe you and they are going to surpass you. And that was how they explained. And you, well, revisited various programs and some of the services were strong. So do you see them as a threat? What will be the direction for the future? Could you just share your thoughts?

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] So could you go back to the slide, previous page, Mobile page. So as explained in my presentation and basically, we will have more chargeable users. And then the roaming cost will be drastically reduced -- is reduced drastically. That is the reason behind. And then 2 years, very short term, we launched this service within the very short term of the 2 years. So comparing to other companies, we incurred the large cost. However, we can reduce the cost in many areas. That's how we see, therefore, so this is the peak of the loss.

And I think it is the final thought. And point, and I'm not in the position to make a comment about other company's services. So including the company name you mentioned, everyone is working very hard. Maybe it grow or not grow. It's uncontrollable from our company, but at least within the existing situation, I think we are in a good position. So we won't be (sic) [want to be] more efficient and very fair because this is a cash back point back program, we want to be fair and efficient. That's all from me.

[Operator]

[Interpreted] Next question is from Toyo Keizai [ Shimbun Nakagawa-san ].

[Unknown Attendee]

[Interpreted] I have 2 questions as well. Related to the point question, 2030 targets. A 20% OI margin to be achieved and point issuance is increasing year-over-year. Now when you think about keeping the profitability as well as enhancing loyalty of the customers, you want to do both. And how is that going to affect the pace at which you issue points? What is your current plan on the pace of issuing points?

And another question is you didn't talk about this today, but the advertisement business is growing as well. Seiyu OMO strategy also has to do with the -- or can be linked to the marketing or advertising business potentially. Maybe third-party cookies will no longer be available, but then the Amazon is growing. And so I think advertising is a potential promising area for you as well. So what is your take on that?

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] So for advertising, I'd like to answer your question. As you said, yes, advertising business in different forms today. We are growing that business. GMS especially is growing. And in accordance with that growth, advertisement revenue is being attained or growing. And when GMS increases, there will be additional advertising business coming our way. So it's a virtuous cycle generated. Especially, we are strengthening collaboration with other brands and vendors. And so we are working with them in this regard. And in terms of systems as well, the charging made easy for advertisement to be issued and published. We are providing such a service or system and so that is also helpful. And therefore, advertising and distribution or retail linking with each other, collaborating with each other for further growth is what we would like to see happen.

As of now, Point is at the very center of what we are trying to do. But, we are doing things in a more general way, so to speak, but we will make it more personal. So usability, for example, is one focus, but let's say, somebody purchases in Ichiba, but they're not using Rakuten Travel or has been away from Rakuten Travel for some time. We want to approach them, and we want to come up with the best possible approach to these people. So I think Mobile will be the key. As I said, just by subscribing to Rakuten Mobile, 70% increase is realized for Rakuten Ichiba. So let's say, all the Rakuten Ichiba users become Rakuten Mobile subscribers, then that would add a lot.

So now in the past, cell phone services used to be really expensive. But thanks to our technology, the services can be attained at a much lower cost. So with technological innovation, value-added is generated and then the return back to the users in the form of points. So where can we -- where are we generating value added? We are making value added, and so other companies cannot catch up with us. I think it's a matter of intelligence that we have that while others don't have.

[Operator]

[Interpreted] And the last question is from [ Suhan Shimbun, Kawanishi-san ] So [ Kawanishi ] from [ Suhan Shimbun ].

[Unknown Attendee]

[Interpreted] [ Kawanishi ] from [ Suhan Shimbun ]. I have 2 questions. And the first one about the active -- the number of active users. I think this is your first time to disclose the active user number. The -- among the 100-or-so million active direct user. And then how do you view your current active users number? And then the -- is there any room for you to grow the active user number more? And that is my first question.

And the second question is, so Mikitani-san said monthly GMS comparing to the subscription, 70% increase was made. So with this, the new price plan, how much positive impact will be brought to Rakuten Ichiba, if you have any new idea, please share that with us.

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, first of all, 36 million is the number of active users. Hopefully, we want the half of the Japanese population to join our service. So we -- we don't have a specific month target, but the brand recognition and also the preference of the points and the partner, including the Seiyu, then this is online, offline combined model. With that, the half of the adult population can be using our services, that is reachable users. So we have a weapon of Point and also the synergy with the Mobile. We can maximize that. So they are using the Rakuten Mobile. So let's purchase from the Rakuten ecosystem.

And then the -- if you buy something on Rakuten Ichiba, then you can use Rakuten Mobile almost for free of charge. Where can we generate this added value? So for example, we are eliminating rates such as from the advertisement or distribution. So we save our cost with the technology and return that to our customers. As a result, they receive the points and they used to pay JPY 7,000 for mobile phone. Now it becomes almost free, and we want to realize that kind of the society.

So -- so the 70% is the number today, and will it be succeeded or will it be saturated at some point in time. We don't know. We need to see for a few years.

[Operator]

[Interpreted] And this concludes the media Q&A session for the financial results meeting. We now would like to move on to the Q&A session for the institutional investors and analysts. [Operator Instructions] So we have a hand up by Tsuruo-san from Citigroup Securities.

[Mitsunobu Tsuruo, analyst]

[Interpreted] So I aim to ask the 2 questions together. First of all, about the loss in the quarter for Mobile, April to June, and also, if possible, July to September, how you see that? Roaming costs, for example, how is it going to be improved? What is your prospect as of now, if you could include that as well?

And my second question is about the new plan, the pricing, that you have announced. Looking at the metrics on a monthly basis, on a per card basis, maybe JPY 50,000 is spent. So 2% point given or increased will mean JPY 1,000. And I think it would even things out. Is that a fair way of looking at it? In other words, you wouldn't lose the subscribers as a result. In other words, my question has to do with the economics that you have in mind. Those are the 2 questions.

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] Okay. So for your question about the performance, I will ask Mr. Yazawa to talk about. And for the second question, Mr. Kono-san will address that question.

[Shunsuke Yazawa, executive]

[Interpreted] Yazawa in charge of Rakuten Mobile. Thank you very much for the question. And your question has to do with the prospect. Going forward, roaming, which is a large piece in the cost, well, October this year and April next year, these are the 2 major timings, at which there will be a major reduction in the roaming. On the flip side of that, base stations are being built out steadily. And in the past, there were some gaps, so to speak, and we actually discontinued or cut roaming from time to time, but the pieces of the puzzle are coming together right now. And of course, with the agreement between the 2 companies, we cannot really disclose the details. However, in terms of the business performance or the earnings, we expect a positive impact contribution.

And also in terms of the positive revenue, UN-LIMIT VII is introduced this time. And as a result, a major improvement is expected. Thank you very much.

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] So some additional comments here from Mr. Hiroshi. Yes, this is Hiroshi speaking. So April to June and July to September, as Mr. Yazawa mentioned, in April, there is this cut of the roaming. In other words, of course, roaming discontinuation will actually be implemented during the month of April to June. And so gradually, there will be less roaming done. And so -- and that will continue at a lower level. So roamings will continue at a low level, and then that will continue into the months beyond July as well.

And in reality, from November, if I remember correctly, this free-of-charge users will no longer exist. But as of June, the so-called free users, so to speak, will no longer exist and so 40% data increase as we switch to dedicated Rakuten circuits and data value will increase and also optional services. For example, for 3 months, 15 minutes unlimited calls, how much people will stay there, stay with that plan, we don't know, but we will see. And then depending on the results, maybe ARPU can be made twice as large or 3x as large, depending on the situation. And as for the points Kono-san, can you address that question?

[Naho Kono, executive]

[Interpreted] Kono, in charge of marketing. Let me address that question. About the point, you mentioned 500,000 cards being used and plus 2x, so you said JPY 1,000. Well, there are such users, yes. Also, in the case of Rakuten Ichiba, the business there is very steady. So this twofold point being given is quite a big benefit for many.

And as was mentioned earlier, people who are not using Rakuten Ichiba right now, as the next slide shows, there are many other services where the bundled services can be leveraged. We have announced this today as well. And proof of concept wise, there have been a lot of different campaigns underway. And given the track record, is the first 1 month is provided for free, how long would they stay with us?

We have actually have some records that we can refer back to. And UN-LIMIT VII, based on that knowledge that we have, we believe, is a huge benefit, gives them a huge benefit for the users. Of course, JPY 0 will no longer be the case. So that is one fact. But by using these different services together at the end of the day, I think the subscribers will stay with us to a certain degree. That's how we see things evolving.

[Mitsunobu Tsuruo, analyst]

[Interpreted] Just one follow-up, if I may.

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, simply put, Rakuten Ichiba in marketplace, roughly speaking, so 2% reduction. But still, we can win back 7%. And that's the structure. In other words, where is your profit is the question, I would say. I think that's an easy way of putting things.

[Mitsunobu Tsuruo, analyst]

[Interpreted] Sorry, 1 follow-up. So the -- looking at the PL of the Q1, the Q2 -- Q1, you showed the dotted line, and that can be the expected line for the Q2? That is my first question.

And if possible, below 1 GB user, so when I look at the industry data, I think it's about 30% of the entire user, who are using the data below 1 GB. What is about your case? Are they using their card as well?

[Naho Kono, executive]

[Interpreted] So the -- as per the detail of the consumer data, I do -- we do not disclose. I cannot answer to that part. However, to us, so both positive and negative, what will happen by implementing the service. Of course, we have considered beforehand and made the final decision today. So maybe that's how you can interpret of this. And as for the P&L, about the dotted line. So Hiroshi-san, can you make any comment on this dotted line for the expected Q2 line?

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, so plus 1% or minus 1%, so those detail -- excluding those detailed portion, so we have been installing our network and then we can reduce the roaming cost largely with that. So if we think users using this roaming service only, it makes loss. And then that drags our overall revenue. Therefore, we made our own efforts to set up our own dedicated line network. So we need to have some indoor for the roaming. But when everything is switched over to our dedicated network, and then when it comes to the 5G era, then the data volume of 100 or 200 GB will become very common.

When that era comes and the pricing of the JPY 2,980 is reasonably cheap, so -- so given the data volume will be increasing, that would be driving the ARPU increase as well. That's how we view.

[Operator]

[Interpreted] So another question, this time is by Sato-san from Jefferies Securities.

[Hiroko Sato, analyst]

[Interpreted] Hiroko Sato from Jefferies Securities. I have 2 questions. Again, it's about Mobile business, Symphony in particular. Well, you have orders of worth some billions of yen. And from -- maybe since Q4 of last year, I think it is reflected in the revenue. Maybe the number is not large. In other words, it's not making a tremendous contribution to the revenue overall. But what timing do you want -- do you see maybe JPY 10 billion or JPY 20 billion licensing revenues will be reflected in the earnings?

And licensing in general and SI will business 7% to 8% or software licensing, might even mean 30% or 50%. So what is the timing at which that contribution will be reflected in the earnings? I'm sure that you are in the red ink, because you send people to Europe and others. But what is the timing at which you have the profitability coming from that business?

[Kenji Hirose, executive]

[Interpreted] It's a business that's built on software. And so our ability to deliver cost-efficient structure is very, very different, obviously, than building infrastructure that requires hardware. So this year, we booked a substantial amount of our services revenue, and now we're in the delivery stage. So within a year old business, I think we made a tremendous progress. I don't think the cost to send people to Europe is, by the way, that significant. We structured our contract to protect our financial recognition with back-to-back contracts. So we expect to start rewarding a significant amount of the revenue end of this year, and accelerate beginning of next year.

One additional thing to mention, keep in mind that with the latest acquisition that we have done in cloud, Symphony, now have a very unique technology package from cloud, radio, OSS, BSS and a large ecosystem contribution to this. So we are very confident on our ability to pull the revenue and accelerate it into this year.

[Hiroko Sato, analyst]

[Interpreted] Okay. So end of this year. So I mean, this is going to be a big revenue or earnings addition to your Mobile, which hopefully will cover some of your red ink. That's my understanding. Because theoretically, your revenues should be equal to gross profit margin, it is really licensing revenue. That's my understanding. Is that correct?

[Kenji Hirose, executive]

[Interpreted] Absolutely. So if you look at -- I think we've reported this. Mickey in his earlier report, the total addressable market for the business unit that Symphony in is very, very massive. $125 billion out of -- by year 2025, gives us a tremendous opportunity to compete for this space. The desire for Symphony to be completely software as a service. So that's really important to recognize that our margins in software is extremely, extremely healthy. So the more that we continue to scale, the more that we're able to deliver on the projects, especially in one-on-one, and we have a couple of very important ones in North America, we anticipate that this contribution to Mobile will be very, very significant, in fact.

[Hiroko Sato, analyst]

[Interpreted] So tell us -- additional follow-up question is, is Symphony's earnings have more impact than the roaming cost cuts next fiscal year, which will have a more impact to your earnings for all segments?

[Kenji Hirose, executive]

[Interpreted] I mean 2 things. I think Symphony as a business, first of all, the reason that we reported consolidated or will report consolidated earnings, keep in mind that Mobile business in Japan is almost a living lab that Symphony needs to continue to build, validate the products, meet the quality expectation of Japan's consumers. So while we believe that in the long term, Symphony's potential is substantial because, of course, the market segments and the opportunities now you're really addressing the world, not just local market. So we believe that potential in terms of roaming cost, we will accelerate.

And as Yuzawa-san and Mickey talked about, we will address the roaming this year. And then Symphony itself is going to contribute substantially to our earnings by end of this year.

[Hiroko Sato, analyst]

[Interpreted] Okay. And then most of -- I have another -- the MVNO portion. So the number of subscription chart you showed in the number of MVNO has been decreasing. Well, in the future, some timing, is there any timing that will be disappearing -- disappeared? Well, maybe in the second half of the next term, are you going to cut them? So what do you think about it?

[Kenji Hirose, executive]

[Interpreted] So in your previous question, -- so the Q2 or Q3 will reduce the large amount of loss, we are in that path. And then the -- so when do we finish the service? And how can we -- the book or recognize the revenue, it's up to the accounting. So we are working on that. But the recognition of the revenue will mainly happen in Q4. And from Q1 to Q3, increase of ARPU and most of our users will become a paying user and increasing the ARPU and the roaming cost has been cut. And those are the drivers.

So your next question about the MVNO question, Yamada-san will take care of that.

[Yoshihisa Yamada, executive]

[Interpreted] So Yamada of Mobile is speaking. And as you can see from this chart, MVNO, so we are borrowing the line from DOCOMO. So we've already stopped the new application. And are we going to stop the service or not? Nothing has decided at this point in time. So if that happens, then we will -- we need to be accountable to explain. But at this point in time, nothing has decided.

[Hiroko Sato, analyst]

[Interpreted] Last question, so this is out of my curiosity. So this is quite attractive, and you have UN-LIMIT VII and on the other hand, DOCOMO's user, wallet migration and having the campaign, you still have this. So in order for -- in order to migrate them, what kind of actions need to be done? Do you need to stop other services? Is this what you are talking about, about the 770,000 subscribers migration? Won't the other people -- there are many people, who are resistant to change.

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] Cumbersome to move to other platform. And also the population coverage were 99% and there are some consumers out of this scope. That's the fact. So gradually, as you can see from the graph, we had originally more than 2 million, and it went down to 770,000. So this kind of the natural attrition will continue.

However, -- so users who used to pay JPY 1,000, they don't use data, so they don't require any fast data network. So for those segment or for this bucket, I wouldn't -- they don't have to stop because we already have the revenue and the profit increased.

[Operator]

Next question is from CLSA Securities, Mr. Oliver Matthew, please.

[Oliver Matthew, analyst]

My question is about the feedback on your service. I think earlier today, you presented some very encouraging feedback on Rakuten Mobile. Could you share any other feedback you had maybe compared to other lower-priced competitors, like Y!mobile or ahamo, which areas you still think you need to improve. I did notice that there were some people who may be felt the video experience was not so good at the moment. Could you tell us more, which areas you're still working on?

[Kenji Hirose, executive]

Yes. Thank you very much. I think this is really a very, very important question. When we decided to build mobile network in Japan, it was also important to recognize that it was not just about the idea or concept that we're building this beautiful elegant cloud-native architecture, by design, by purpose, we have built one of the most densest network from day 0, and this is also very, very deliberate. And not a lot of people really understood that the fundamental design of this network is to drive coverage both indoor and outdoor.

So while we looked at the overall experience, we think both the areas around coverage, we're addressing and with both deployments of macro as well as massive densification through small cells, we feel really, really good about where we ended up what we call our Phase 1 area. And the area that we of course we would love to do a lot more on and continue to address is, now we're focused on acceleration of 5G. Of course, with that, we have a whole bunch of wider spectrum bandwidth, almost 500 MHZ of spectrum available to us to drive better user experience, better quality.

And if you look, and I encourage you to look at the latest report around our 5G experience, we're one of the best in terms of both download, upload experience in Japan. So we feel that the natural now -- next steps for us is really the emphasis on maximizing this massive bandwidth around 5G spectrum in Japan.

[Operator]

[Interpreted] And the next question is from Bank of America, Nagao-san.

[Yoshitaka Nagao, analyst]

[Interpreted] Nagao-san from Bank of America. I have 2 questions. And the first question about the domestic [ AC ] GMS. So you had very high hurdle 1 year ago, but actually, you made double-digit growth. And It is quite good progress in performance. And could you break down about the region or about the profitability of the domestic market?

And then I think this is a record high, after you changed the revenue criteria. So including the background, what you have such a good performance, could you educate me more? That is my first question.

And the second question is about Mobile. And conventionally, sort of subscribed with JPY 0 or the free of charge, and then that will be initial access point. And then they will use more of the services and then the gain, the profit from there. But you started not to do this as a free of charge plan, and you change the pricing plan minimum level with JPY 980. So why did you change to this new business pricing plan? Those are the 2 questions.

[Kazunori Takeda, executive]

[Interpreted] Takeda is speaking. And as for the first question, so just like the previous term, so the customer started to purchase items via online and the frequency of that purchase has been sustained or kept. So that is the underline of the performance. And so among the commerce service and Rakuten Ichiba, we have -- the customers started by different items or different genres. And as shown in the presentation slide, using the other services. In other words, the cross use increased. With that, we have users with high loyalty. So our customers' attribute change to high loyal users. And those loyal users are supporting our growth.

And also, in another major point is so-called thank you shop, including the delivery cost. We have had this program and 2 years have passed in the recognition of the thank you shop or [ 3-9 ] shop is increased and the customers feel safe and secure to purchase their items from our services. And until the last 1 mile, we have worked -- co-worked with the JP and do the delivery. And then NPS point is increasing with that. So that is another contribution factor to our growth. And this growth is quite sustainable.

And in other -- and then the profit wise, as written there, we made a great performance, and there are 3 reasons behind it. And the first one is during the pandemic or COVID-19, we revisited cost one by one. For example, marketing costs and other costs. And then when the momentum comes back, so we need to restructure ourselves to boost our business when the demand come back. And at this timing of the year, well, the government released the COVID emergency declaration and then this kind of efficiency made a great contribution to our business.

Well, I think I said this many times. One is that the network coverage went up to 97.2% and it will go beyond 99% before the end of the year. As you may already know this, but iPhone SE -- the old iPhone SE, once that device catch roaming, it will not release. But that the speed would become -- would slow down when roaming cost decrease, but we can avoid it. So the quality of our network improved. That is the one thing.

And our targeted segment, there are 3 target segments: One is price-conscious users don't want to pay any penny. And the second one is Rakuten Group's loyal customer and the third one is data-heavy users.

So in early stage, we need to target all of the segments. That was our plan. However, rather than give them the free-of-charge services, we need to provide better points back to the consumers. And then still the 11% of the Rakuten Ichiba is using our Rakuten Mobile, but we can increase the number of users or subscribers from there, which may lead to 30 million of the subscriber is foreseeable. So moving from the discount strategy that we used to take, we need some points in the marketing. And then we want to -- our loyal users to use our services more. And then the ARPU per user and the entire group's gross margin become different.

And we already accumulated data over the past 2 years' performance. So we need to have a better marketing strategy, and we changed our marketing strategy to make that happen.

[Yoshitaka Nagao, analyst]

[Interpreted] One follow-up question. If that is the case, and then even you -- I think it's quite appreciated for you to lose those non-contributing users to your revenue and profit. And then you can improve your quality of the business. So you are now changing your year -- steering the year over the business. How do you view that?

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, yes, to be honest, your observation is correct. Yes, your observation is correct. Well, so there is nonpaying user. Keeping nonpaying user is quite tough. That is the honest opinion.

[Operator]

[Interpreted] It's actually time that we have to close this session together with the investors and analysts. But Mr. Mikitani, Mickey, has a few remarks at the end.

[Hiroshi Mikitani, executive]

[Interpreted] Well, thank you very much. And Rakuten Group has tried many, many things, maybe too many things have been tried. But the synergistic effects, it leads to a Point program and it leads to -- one leads to another. And I think if things are working, and I think that is reflected in the financial results that I presented today. And the Mobile profitability to be improved is one piece.

Ecosystem contribution is huge when it comes to Mobile contribution. When you think about the global mobile subscription, it's actually moving in a reverse direction. 5G has been invested in, but they're not making profit. That's what we generally hear in other markets.

But within our group, Rakuten Group, because the group members of Rakuten, once they start using Rakuten Mobile, then our profits will go up quite dramatically. So the breakeven point, we want to go beyond that as soon as possible. And once we go beyond that point, then many things will change as well. So the mobile users reaching 20 million, 25 million, when that happens in the future, then the service by Rakuten Group will have no enemy unformidable.

Of course, we would try many, many things. And of course, friendly competition is always welcome. Of course, we will not monopolize the market. There should be a certain level of competition.

So with that in mind, we would like to enhance our service level going forward. Now the data, the amount of data that we have and the quality of the data that we have today, when you compare with others around the world, it is unprecedented. We have data that others don't have. And for the consumer services, of course, with due care for the personal and privacy considerations, we will leverage them and also real time. I think there are many, many things that are possible with the technology today. So I hope that you will interpret it as such.

Thank you very much for your time.

[Operator]

[Interpreted] This concludes the 2022 first quarter consolidated financial results briefing session as well as the Q&A session. Thank you very much once again for joining us today.

[Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]