Fuji Electric Co Ltd

TSE:6504

Earnings Call Analysis

Record Q1 Revenues; Raised FY Forecasts

The company reported record first-quarter results with net sales rising to JPY 234.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of JPY 30.2 billion, fueled by higher demand. Operating profit soared by JPY 4.8 billion, reaching JPY 14.7 billion, and the operating margin ascended to 6.3%. Profit attributable to owners jumped by JPY 2.4 billion to JPY 12.3 billion. The company's outlook for the first half and full-year has been revised upwards, forecasting net sales of JPY 474 billion and operating profit of JPY 30 billion, reflecting robust performance and positive exchange rate impacts.

Record-Setting First Quarter and Revised Full-Year Forecast

The company achieved record highs in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 with substantial increases in net sales and profits. Net sales rose by JPY 30.2 billion to JPY 234.1 billion, while operating profit increased by JPY 4.8 billion to JPY 14.7 billion, bolstered by higher sales and production volumes across various sectors. A remarkable operating margin of 6.3% was noted, which was 1.4 percentage points higher than the previous year. Notably, operating results improved significantly in Power Electronics Industry and Food and Beverage Distribution, with margins reaching 14.0% and 11.4%, respectively. These robust financial achievements have led the company to revise its full-year forecast, anticipating higher net sales of JPY 1,060.0 billion and operating profit of JPY 96 billion, while accounting for revised foreign exchange rate assumptions.

Sector Performance: Impressive Gains and Some Declines

Each of the company's business segments experienced heightened net sales and operating results. Power Electronics Energy saw an increase in net sales to JPY 58 billion, driven by large orders for substation equipment, while Semiconductor segment's net sales improved to JPY 51.1 billion. However, within the Semiconductor sector, industrial applications saw a dip due to decreased consumer product sales, despite a jump in automotive semiconductors. ED&C component sales fell as projected, amid challenging market conditions, yet maintained a double-digit margin. Significant achievements were recorded in Food and Beverage Distribution, where both vending machines and store distribution businesses experienced substantial growth, fueled by demand from beverage manufacturers and convenience store renovations.

Global and Domestic Sales Dynamics

The company marked an increase in net sales both overseas and in Japan, with a slight uptick in the ratio of overseas sales exceeding 30%. Notably, sales climbed in Asia, Europe, and the Americas due to strong performance in sectors such as Energy Management and Semiconductor. While sales in China dropped due to adverse market conditions, overall, global expansion contributed notably to the first-quarter success.

Orders and Forecasts: Mixed Outcomes

The company encountered a mixed bag of results concerning orders. While first-quarter orders for automotive semiconductors rose by 30%, there was a decline in orders for ED&C components and industrial semiconductors. Regardless, total orders beat the initial plan for the quarter. Looking ahead, the company is cautious, predicting a temporary stall in ED&C components in the second quarter, but remains optimistic about the growth potential in the automotive semiconductor market.

Financial Position and Asset Management

The balance sheet shows a reduction in total assets, with trade receivables decreasing as collections progressed, and inventory levels swelling with the increased production. Investments in the Semiconductor sector led to an uptick in property, plant, and equipment assets. A strategic reduction in cross-shareholding brought down investments and other assets. The company also managed to reduce its cash and deposits alongside interest-bearing debt, resulting in a slight uptick in the equity ratio to 46.7% and a stable net debt-to-equity ratio (0.2x).

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q1

[Junichi Arai, executive]

Good afternoon, everyone. I am Junichi Arai, Corporate General Manager, Corporate Management Planning Headquarters. First of all, I will explain consolidated financial results for the first quarter for the fiscal year 2023 in year-on-year comparison.

Page 4, please. There was a slight impact of exchange rate. In real terms, both sales and profit increased significantly in the first quarter. We achieved new record highs for the first quarter for net sales, operating profit, ordinary profit and profit attributable to owners of parent. Net sales were JPY 234.1 billion. up JPY 30.2 billion. Excluding gain on translation of earnings of overseas subsidiaries, net sales increased JPY 27.9 billion due to demand increase. Operating profit was JPY 14.7 billion, up JPY 4.8 billion. Operating margin was 6.3%, up 1.4 percentage points. As for non-operating items, foreign exchange gain was JPY 0. Also due to timing difference of dividend income in the previous fiscal year, and expenses to convert magnetic disk production lines to semiconductor production lines in Malaysia, included in others, non-operating profit net of non-operating expenses was down JPY 2 billion year-on-year. Ordinary profit was JPY 15.1 billion, up JPY 2.8 billion. Extraordinary profit, net of extraordinary loss was JPY 4.6 billion, up JPY 400 million, mainly due to gain on sales of investment securities and gain on sales of noncurrent assets. Profit attributable to owners of parent was up JPY 2.4 billion to JPY 12.3 billion.

On Page 5, breakdown of changes in operating profit is shown in a waterfall chart. Increase in sales and production volumes pushed up operating profit by JPY 9.2 billion. Sales and production volumes increased in power supply and facility systems, automotive, semiconductor, factory automation and store distribution. Unfortunately, sales and production volumes of ED&C components decreased year-on-year. As business expanded, fixed cost increased, such as labor cost, R&D, depreciation and leases paid and other expenses, including outsourcing and controllable expenses, in particular, travel expenses. Increase in fixed cost pushed down operating profit by JPY 6 billion. Exchange rate fluctuation pushed our profit by JPY 300 million. Others include JPY 1.8 billion negative impact of rising raw material prices and JPY 400 million negative impact of energy prices. Those negative impacts were offset by JPY 3.5 billion positive effect of higher product selling prices. Others in total pushed up profit by JPY 1.4 billion. As a result, operating profit increased JPY 4.8 billion in total.

Page 6 shows net sales and operating results by segment. Both net sales and operating results increased in all segments. In particular, operating profit in Power Electronics Industry and Food and Beverage Distribution increased by more than JPY 1 billion. Operating margin was 14.0% in Semiconductor and probably a record high of 11.4% in Food and Beverage Distribution.

On Pages 7 and 8, I will give you more detailed explanation and business results by segment. In Power Electronics Energy, net sales were JPY 58 billion, up JPY 6.8 billion. Operating profit was JPY 4.4 billion, up JPY 500 million. In Energy Management, net sales and operating results increased due to the recording of large-scale orders for substation equipment. For industrial applications and power supply equipment, net sales increased, and operating results increased slightly. In power supply and facility systems, net sales and operating results increased significantly. The subsidiary in Singapore, producing switch gears and control gears grew substantially. Normally, margin of switch gears and control gears is 5% or 6%. However, margin of this company is more than 10% every year and was above 15% in the first quarter in this fiscal year. In ED&C components, we originally expected a decrease in net sales and operating results due to a very challenging market condition. In line with the forecast, net sales and operating results decreased year-on-year. However, even under such circumstances, margin was double digit. I think actions we took so far are functioning despite a decrease in net sales. In Power Electronics Industry, net sales were JPY 76.2 billion, up JPY 11.1 billion. Operating results were negative JPY 300 million, an improvement of JPY 1.5 billion. In Automation Systems, both net sales and operating results increased. Up until last year, we faced with difficulties in procuring parts for low-voltage inverters in particular. However, as the difficulties were alleviated, we were able to increase production and filled significant order backlog. As a result, both sales and profit increased. In Social Solutions, net sales and operating results increased due to increases in orders for radiation-related equipment. In Equipment Construction, net sales increased, and operating results increased slightly as a result of the recording of large-scale orders for air-conditioning equipment construction. In IT Solutions, net sales and operating results increased due to higher demand for large-scale public and academic sector projects.

Page 8, please. In Semiconductor, net sales were JPY 51.1 billion, up JPY 4.9 billion. Operating profit was JPY 7.1 billion, almost flat. For industrial applications, due to decrease in consumer products, net sales decreased, and operating results decreased slightly. Automotive semiconductors grew significantly due to growth in demand for electrified vehicles. Net sales increased and operating results increased slightly. The growth in sales and increase in selling prices led to operating results being relatively unchanged despite the rise in depreciation and leases paid for bolstering power semiconductor production capacity and the increases in material costs. In Power Generation, net sales were JPY 18.4 billion, up JPY 1.6 billion. Operating profit was JPY 900 million, up JPY 800 million. Net sales and operating profit increased due to the benefits of large-scale hydroelectric power projects. Food and Beverage Distribution is a major point for the first quarter. Net sales and operating results increased significantly both in vending machines and store distribution. Margin was higher than 11% in both businesses. In vending machines, overseas results, mainly in China were slightly below budget. However, operating results increased significantly because of growth in demand from beverage manufacturers in Japan and the benefits of cost reduction activities. Also in store distribution, net sales and operating results increased. The performance for the first quarter was quite strong due to growth in demand for convenience store equipment renovations and higher orders for counter fixtures.

The graph on Page 9 shows net sales by Japan and overseas area. Net sales increased JPY 30.2 billion year-on-year, JPY 8.4 billion overseas and JPY 21.8 billion in Japan. Ratio of overseas sales was slightly higher than 30%. Overseas sales were JPY 71.2 billion, up JPY 8.4 billion. Sales in Asia and Others were JPY 36.2 billion, up JPY 6.3 billion. Sales in Energy Management, Power Supply and Facility Systems, Automation Systems and Semiconductor increased. Sales in Europe were JPY 8.8 billion. up JPY 2.5 billion, mainly due to Semiconductor. Sales in Americas were JPY 6.3 billion, up JPY 1.2 billion, mainly due to Energy Management and Power Supply and Facility Systems. Sales in China for JPY 20 billion, down JPY 1.5 billion, mainly in ED&C components and Semiconductor due to bad market conditions.

Page 10 shows major components orders received. In total, first quarter orders were JPY 272.1 billion, down JPY 11.5 billion year-on-year. Orders for major components were JPY 101.3 billion, down JPY 10.6 billion. Orders for automotive semiconductor were up 30% year-on-year. However, orders decreased 33% for ED&C components, 14% for industrial semiconductor and 6% for factory automation. Total orders were about JPY 14 billion higher than planned for the first quarter. Orders for major components were slightly less than JPY 8 billion higher than planned. In particular, orders for factory automation exceeded plan by JPY 4 billion and several hundred million yen. Industrial semiconductor exceeded plan by JPY 2 billion and several hundred million yen. In ED&C components, although orders were down year-on-year, plan was exceeded by several hundred million yen. We forecast ED&C components will come to a temporary stand still in the second quarter onwards. However, we expect automotive semiconductor will grow significantly.

On Pages 12 and 13, revised forecast for the first half and full year in comparison with forecast on April 27 are shown. We revised full year forecast mainly to reflect changes in foreign exchange rate assumptions. Page 12 shows revised forecast for the first half in comparison with April forecast. We revised our forecast for net sales by JPY 8 billion to JPY 474 billion, operating profit by JPY 1.8 billion to JPY 30 billion, ordinary profit by JPY 2 billion to JPY 27.5 billion and profit attributable to owners of parent by JPY 2 billion to JPY 19.5 billion. We revised assumed exchange rate by reflecting the actual exchange rate. By segment, for Power Electronics Energy, April forecast for net sales and operating profit were kept unchanged. For Power Electronics Industry, both sales and profit were revised up. For Semiconductor, sales were kept unchanged, and profit was revised up by JPY 500 million. For Power Generation, sales were revised up, but profit was revised down by JPY 800 million, due to differences in profitability between projects. For Food and Beverage Distribution, sales were revised up significantly by JPY 4 billion and profit was revised up by JPY 1.2 billion.

Page 13 shows full year forecast in comparison with April forecast. Also for the full year, as I mentioned earlier, we changed foreign exchange rate assumptions for the U.S. dollar and the euro from the second quarter. We revised our forecast for net sales by JPY 10 billion to JPY 1,060.0 billion, operating profit by JPY 2 billion to JPY 96 billion, operating margin by 0.1 percentage points to 9.1%, ordinary profit by JPY 2.5 billion to JPY 94.5 billion and profit attributable to owners of parent by JPY 2 billion to JPY 64.5 billion. We revised our forecast both for the first half and full year. We revised up sales and profit forecast for Power Electronics Energy, Power Electronics Industry and Semiconductor and kept forecast unchanged for Power Generation, Food and Beverage Distribution and Others. For the second half, we haven't closely examined forecast by carefully assessing exchange rate trends, market trends and situation in China. We would like to announce the revised forecast in October.

Next, consolidated balance sheet. This slide shows comparison between March 31, 2023, and June 30, 2023. Notes and account receivable trade, contract assets decreased JPY 47.7 billion as collection progressed. Inventories increased JPY 23 billion due to increase in components and planned related inventories. Property, plant and equipment increased JPY 4.6 billion, mainly for Semiconductor. Investments and other assets decreased JPY 2.9 billion, partly due to planned reduction in cross shareholding. Total assets stood at JPY 1,132.6 billion, down JPY 49 billion. We reduced cash and deposit by JPY 36 billion and also reduced interest-bearing debt by slightly more than JPY 30 billion. Net interest-bearing debt was JPY 105 billion. Net D/E ratio was 0.2x. Equity ratio was 46.7%, up 3.0%.

Page 17 and following pages are for reference. Page 17 shows quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparison of amount of orders received for ED&C components, low-voltage inverters, semiconductor and vending machines. In the first quarter, automotive semiconductor orders increased year-on-year and vending machines increased quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year. However, orders for others all decreased.

Page 18 shows consolidated forecast for 6 months and year-on-year comparison. Net sales and operating profit will increase. Ordinary profit will decrease year-on-year, [ partly ] due to decrease in foreign exchange gains in non-operating items. By segment, in Power Electronics Energy, operating profit will decrease due to ED&C components. In Power Electronics Industry, sales and profit will increase. Also in Semiconductor, sales and profit will increase. In Power Generation, sales will decrease due to large-scale projects in the previous year. In Food and Beverage Distribution, sales and profit will increase.

Page 19. The last page indicates full year forecast and year-on-year comparison. Net sales operating profit, ordinary profit and profit attributable to owners of parent will increase. Negative impact of exchange rate of JPY 4.5 billion is included in net sales and JPY 3.1 billion in operating profit. By segment, net sales in Power Generation will decrease. Net sales in all other segments will increase. Operating profit will increase in all segments, including Power Generation. Net sales will be JPY 1,060.0 billion, up JPY 50.6 billion year-on-year. Operating profit will be JPY 96 billion, up JPY 7.1 billion. As for downside factors, demand is lower than planned for ED&C components. Upside factors include food-related businesses that I mentioned earlier. In Power Electronics Industry, order backlog in factory automation is also an upside factor. Progress is made in procurement of parts from last year. I personally think there upside potential in Power Electronics Industry, mainly in factory automation regarding exchange rate, although we revised assumptions, if exchange rate remains at the current rate, I think there is upside potential of JPY 1 billion and several hundred million yen in the first half and JPY 4 billion and several hundred million yen in the full year, although the future exchange rate is uncertain. I suppose expenses will decrease about JPY 2 billion, which will be positive for profit.

As I am Corporate General Manager, Corporate Management Planning Headquarters, I want to monitor the progress carefully with the [indiscernible] and hope that we will exceed the revised forecast in the second quarter onwards. That concludes my presentation.

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