Yamaha Corp

TSE:7951

Earnings Call Transcript 2022-Q3

[Satoshi Yamahata, executive]

Thank you very much for participating in Yamaha's briefing on the third quarter of FY March 2022. I'd like to start the explanation of the results.

Please turn to Page 1. Here, we are showing the highlights of the first 3 quarters. As the market continued to recover from the impact of COVID-19, we achieved a year-on-year increase in both the revenue and profits. However, the supply shortages continued due to the semiconductor procurement difficulties and the logistic disruptions.

As for the core operating profit, despite the rise of logistics and procurement costs, we achieved a year-on-year increase due to the effects of the higher revenue.

Regarding the full year outlook, although the supply shortages will continue, the demand remains strong. So we are expecting both the revenue and profits to rise year-on-year. Taking the impact of exchange rates into account, we revised the previous projection upward by JPY 5 billion for the revenue and JPY 1 billion for the core operating profit.

Next, please turn to Page 3. Here are the specific numerical results. The revenue for the first 3 quarters was JPY 302.3 billion. The core operating profit was JPY 34.9 billion. The profit ratio was 11.5%. And the net profit was JPY 30 billion. As you can see, we achieved increase in both the revenue and profits year-on-year.

Moving on to Page 4. The core operating profit of JPY 34.9 billion was achieved by an increase of JPY 5.9 billion from the previous year's JPY 29 billion. And here are the contributing factors. First, the exchange rates gave us a positive impact of JPY 6.5 billion. Since the labor cost at overseas factories are continually rising, there was a negative impact of JPY 0.6 billion on the P&L. Moreover, due to the continued cost increase, especially that of semiconductors, there was a negative impact of JPY 2.5 billion.

Also, as you know, since the ocean freight charges are rising, there was another negative impact of JPY 4.5 billion during the first 3 quarters. Meanwhile, from the improvement of sales, production and model mix, we enjoyed JPY 8.4 billion increase, but the rising SG&A expenses dragged down the profit by JPY 4.6 billion. In fact, during the last fiscal year, there were some extraordinary factors in the fixed cost of SG&A, such as the loss from the suspension of operations that was transferred to extraordinary loss and a reversal of the reserves. So when such extraordinary factors were excluded, the actual rise in the SG&A expenses this year was about JPY 1.6 billion. Therefore, even though we have been suffering from the supply shortage of semiconductors, the increase of SG&A was kept at the minimum level. Furthermore, the IMC business and others gave us a positive impact of JPY 3.2 billion. So all in all, we achieved a profit increase of JPY 5.9 billion year-on-year.

Now Page 5 shows the results by each business segment. The musical instruments achieved a revenue of JPY 204.7 billion, the core operating profit of JPY 29.1 billion and a profit ratio of 14.2%. The audio equipment saw the revenue of JPY 70.7 billion, the core operating profit of JPY 1.6 billion and a profit ratio of 2.2%. The industrial machinery and components, IMC business and others saw the revenue of JPY 26.9 billion, the core operating profit of JPY 4.2 billion and a profit ratio of 15.5%. As you can see, the IMC business and others continually enjoyed very good performance and achieved increase in both the revenue and profit year-on-year. The audio equipment suffered from a serious semiconductor shortage and thereby saw a decline in both the revenue and profit. The musical instruments were also partially affected by the supply shortage. But since the demand has been very good, it achieved a year-on-year increase in both the revenue and profit.

Moving on to Page 6. I would like to talk about the full year outlook. We are now projecting the revenue to be JPY 395 billion, the core operating profit to be JPY 41 billion, the profit ratio to be 10.4% and the net profit to be JPY 35 billion. As you can see, we are expecting the revenue and profits to increase year-on-year. Also, we revised the previous projection slightly upward due to the additional positive impact expected from the foreign exchange rates. So now the revenue is up JPY 5 billion, the operating profit is up JPY 1 billion, and the net profit is up JPY 0.5 billion from the previous projection.

Page 7 shows the core operating profit analysis and the upper half shows the year-on-year comparison. The last year's profit was JPY 40.7 billion, and we are expecting this to rise by JPY 0.3 billion this year. The contributing factors are almost the same as what I explained earlier for the first 3 quarters. The exchange rates are positive for us, but the negatives from the increased overseas labor costs, material costs and ocean freight charges are pushing down the profit. Meanwhile, the profit is boosted by the increased sales, production and model mix, but the SG&A will drag it down.

Yet again, as I mentioned earlier, some extraordinary factors are included in this SG&A. So the actual year-on-year increase is not as big as this. The actual increase of SG&A is about the same as what I mentioned earlier for the first 3 quarters. Moreover, the IMC business and others are contributing to the profit increase by JPY 2.2 billion year-on-year.

Now the bottom half shows the differences from the previous projection of JPY 40 billion. We revised the profit upward by JPY 1 billion, and it is mostly due to the foreign exchange impact of JPY 1.1 billion. Yet there are some minor changes in some other factors, too, including the further increase of cost, mainly that of semiconductors and the decrease in sales and model mix. Meanwhile, we are not using the SG&A expenses as much as we had thought. So that is providing us a positive impact. Moreover, the IMC business and others are contributing further by JPY 1 billion.

On Page 8, you can see the outlook by each business segment. The musical instruments projected revenue is JPY 270 billion, the core operating profit is JPY 37.5 billion, and the profit ratio is 13.9%. The audio equipment's projected revenue is JPY 90 billion, the core operating profit is 0 and the profit ratio is 0. The IMC business and others projected revenue is JPY 35 billion. The core operating profit is JPY 3.5 billion, and the profit ratio is 10%.

As you can see, the musical instruments are expected to achieve the revenue and profit increase, but the audio equipment is unfortunately expected to see the decline in both. And the IMC business and others are expected to see the rise in both.

Now Page 9 shows the difference from the previous projection by each segment. The musical instruments revenue is revised upward by JPY 5 billion, and the core operating profit is also up JPY 1 billion. These are mainly due to the uplifting effect of the foreign exchange rates. On the other hand, the audio equipment business has been facing very tough situations continually. So we revised the core operating profit projection downward by JPY 1 billion.

Now you might wonder why the profit projection was dropped JPY 1 billion, while the revenue projection remained unchanged. In fact, the revenue is expected to get a positive impact of JPY 1.2 billion from the foreign exchange rate. So the actual revenue without the FX impact would be JPY 1.2 billion lower than the previous projection.

Also, please note the FX impact on the core operating profit. The depreciation of yen against U.S. dollars would be positive for the musical instruments profit, but it will be negative for the audio equipment, and the impact is estimated to be JPY 0.2 billion. Therefore, we lower the core operating profit projection of audio equipment by JPY 1 billion. Meanwhile, the IMC business and others are doing very well. So we revised the profit projection upward by JPY 1 billion. So when you look at the total company, the uplift effect of exchange rates may seem to be the only difference. But when you look closer, the audio equipment's profit decrease of JPY 1 billion is actually offset by the increase of JPY 1 billion by IMC business and others.

From here on, I'd like to explain the details of each segment. Please turn to Page 11. First, during the first 9 months, the musical instruments segment achieved an increase of revenues in all the product categories. Despite the ongoing supply shortages, the pianos and the wind, string and percussion instruments achieved double-digit sales growth. The digital musical instruments and the guitars also enjoyed brisk demand that drove the sales growth. The sales increased in all the markets as the market conditions improved.

As for the full year projection, despite the supply shortages, the revenue is expected to increase year-on-year due to the market recovery. The sales of digital musical instruments are expected to decrease due to the semiconductor shortages sound LSIs. But the pianos, the wind, string and percussion instruments and the guitars are expected to achieve higher sales driven by the recovery in market conditions. We expect the recovery in all the regions for the full year.

Next, please turn to Page 12. From the left, these bars are showing the results of FY March 2020 and FY March 2021 and the forecast of FY March 2022. And from the bottom, they are the first, second, third and fourth quarters. The numbers on top of each bar are the full year result or forecast, and the red figures in the bracket are showing the year-on-year growth, excluding the FX impact. For the full year, the pianos are expected to achieve 15% increase year-on-year. As for the digital music instruments, as I said, due to the difficulties in procuring the semiconductors, the full year sales is projected to be slightly lower than the previous year, down by 1%. Meanwhile, the wind, string and percussion instruments are expected to be up 18% and the guitars are expected to be up 7%.

Likewise, on Page 13, we're showing the revenue breakdown by region. In all the regions that are Japan, North America, Europe, China and the other regions, the full year sales are expected to increase year-on-year.

Next, on Page 14, you can see the details of the audio equipment segment. During the first 9 months, the revenue declined for AV and ICT, but increased for PA. The AV product revenue declined due to the supply shortages of semiconductors. The PA equipment revenue increased as live performance market recovered. The ICT equipment continued to enjoy good demand for the network devices, but the revenue declined due to the supply constraint namely of semiconductors. As for the full year projection, despite the market recovery expectation, the revenue is likely to decline due to the great impact of the semiconductor shortage. The AV product revenue is expected to decline due to the semiconductor shortages.

As for the PA equipment, although the live performance market is rebounding, the emergence of semiconductor shortage issues is likely to drag down the revenue. As for the ICT equipment, the special demand for the UC conference systems have peaked out. And even though there is a steady demand for the network devices, the full year revenue is expected to decline year-on-year due to the supply shortages.

Please turn to Page 15. The layout of the page is the same as that of the musical instruments, but the audio equipment is facing great difficulties in all the product categories, as you can see here. The full year revenues are projected to be down 28% year-on-year for the AV products, down 3% for the PA equipment and down 17% for the ICT equipment.

Page 16 shows the revenue by region. As you can see in all the regions, we are projecting year-on-year revenue decline.

Next, on Page 17, you can see the details of the IMC business and others. During the first 9 months, the recovery in market conditions drove the sales increase of the electronic devices and the automobile interior wood components but the sales of factory automation equipment declined. For the full year, we are expecting a year-on-year revenue growth driven by the market condition recovery despite the impact that we are foreseeing from the semiconductor supply difficulties and the reduced production by the corporate customers. Furthermore, we are expecting the profit to be higher than the previous projection with the progress that we made in improving the model mix and reducing the fixed costs. For this, we upgraded the segment profit forecast by JPY 1 billion.

Next, please turn to Page 19 for the other financial figures. This page shows the balance sheet summary. The total asset was JPY 562.4 billion, and the total equity was JPY 396.7 billion. At around the end of the second quarter, we sold some of the shares of Yamaha Motors, and that is reflected in the changes. The noncurrent assets declined by JPY 42.7 billion, while the cash and cash equivalents increased. Also, the current liabilities increased because we have not paid the tax yet. And this unpaid tax is also relevant to the cash balance increase.

First, the current liabilities increased by JPY 16 billion and the noncurrent liabilities decreased by JPY 10.9 billion. So the total equity decreased by JPY 0.2 billion. Some of the gains from selling Yamaha Motors shares were reflected in the total equity, but it was offset by the share buyback that we conducted. As for the balance at the end of March, the total asset is projected to be JPY 568 billion, and the total equity is projected to be JPY 402 billion.

Now Page 20 shows the capital expenditure and others. The estimated CapEx for this fiscal year is JPY 17 billion, which is the same as the previous projection. Likewise, the estimated R&D expense of JPY 24.5 billion is the same as the previous projection.

Next, I'd like to briefly touch on the ESG initiatives. So please turn to Page 22. Our mission is to contribute to the sustainable development of the music culture and society. So as a cultural initiative, we introduced the Japanese instrumental music education in Egypt in a collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education. Also, as shown below there, we established the first Yamaha Music School in Saudi Arabia.

As an initiative for the society, we are trying to enhance the diversity and fulfillment of the people we work with and we were awarded the highest ranking of Gold in the PRIDE INDEX 2021 for 3 consecutive years. Moreover, to improve the working environment, we decided to construct a new headquarter office building because the current building has aged too much. As for the environmental effort, we were selected as an A-list company for the climate change initiatives by CDP. We are very honored to be able to report such an achievement.

Furthermore, I would like to briefly explain about the appendix. First, on Page 24, you can see the results just for the third quarter of the FY March 2022. The revenue was JPY 103.8 billion. The core operating profit was JPY 11.4 billion. The profit ratio was 10.9%. And the net profit was JPY 8.6 billion. The year-on-year decline of both the revenue and profit is attributed to the great results achieved in the previous year's third quarter due to the recovery from the pandemic and the serious semiconductor supply shortages that we are facing this year. That is why when you look at the third quarter alone, the revenue and profit declined year-on-year.

Page 25 shows the breakdown by each segment. The musical instruments revenue increased, but the profit decreased. The audio equipment saw a decline in both the revenue and profit. The IMC business and others performed well and achieved an increase in both the revenue and profit.

Other than that, the Pages 26 and 27 are showing the profits below the core operating profit. So please take a look at them later.

That concludes my brief explanation of Yamaha's performances as of the third quarter. Thank you very much.

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