President's Message

We will realize continuous growth by carefully meeting the needs of our customers, improving our services, and contributing to local communities and society

代表取締役社長(CEO) 小栗勝男の写真

 Our group has been providing a wide range of services related to people’s lives and social infrastructure since its establishment in 1950. The background to the expansion of these services is a corporate culture that seeks to respond to all of our customers’ needs and to increase their joy and satisfaction. We will continue to pursue more secure, safe, and fulfilling services while being close to our customers and the community.

Regarding financial results for the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2024

Sales increased for the third consecutive year to a record high, and the number of customers increased significantly from the beginning of the period.

 Although the energy prices have been soaring due to the acceleration of the yen’s depreciation and the prolonged Ukrainian situation, the economy has been gradually recovering thanks to the normalization of economic activities and the effects of various policies in the second quarter. On the other hand, the future remains uncertain due to the deepening labor shortage and the impact of rising prices.

 In this situation, our group has formulated a new “Mid-term Management Plan 2025” and announced it in May 2023. Over the next three years until 2025, we will promote various initiatives along the growth tree consisting of three elements: “Roots of Growth,” “Core,” and “Fruit of Growth,” and contribute to a sustainable society while achieving sustainable growth.

 Regarding the performance of the second quarter, the company achieved three consecutive increases in sales, reaching a record high of 105.2 billion yen (up 1.1% from the same period last year) due to increased revenue from customers such as energy and CATV and expansion of stock business for corporate information and communication services.

 Regarding the profit, while there was a decrease in sales of household gas due to high temperatures, the increase in group customer numbers led to an increase in profit, and the operating profit was 4.3 billion yen, the same level as the same period last year. In addition, the burden of equity method investment losses that occurred in the same period last year was reduced, and the quarterly net profit improved significantly to 2.2 billion yen (an increase of 1,403.4% compared to the same period last year).

 The number of customers, which is the revenue base of the group, increased by 28,000 from the beginning of the period (compared to an increase of 49,000 in the previous period) to 3,328,000, thanks to active customer acquisition activities aimed at achieving the mid-term management plan. We have expanded our revenue base by increasing the number of customers in our main businesses, including gas (LP and city gas), CATV, and information and communication (optical collaboration and LIBMO).

Outlook for the year

Sales plan to reach record high.
We will increase the number of customers and expand the area.

 There are no changes to the full-year consolidated earnings forecast. We are projecting sales of 240 billion yen (4.3% increase compared to the previous fiscal year) due to continued increase in the number of customers mainly in our main businesses and expansion of areas. On the other hand, operating income is expected to be 15 billion yen (up 0.5% year on year), the same level as the previous fiscal year, taking into account costs for strengthening customer acquisition and activating human resources. In addition, ordinary income and net income attributable to parent company shareholders will be 15 billion yen (up 12.9%) and 8.5 billion yen (31.5 billion yen), respectively, as the burden of equity method investment losses that occurred in the previous fiscal year will be reduced. % increase), which is expected to be a significant improvement.

Launch of “Medium-term Management Plan 2025”

Aiming for medium- to long-term corporate growth in a rapidly changing market environment

 In May 2023, our group formulated and started a new "Medium-term Management Plan 2025" with fiscal 2025 as the final year. In the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, we will promote each initiative in line with the growth tree consisting of the three elements of "roots, core, and fruits of growth," and we plan to increase sales and profits for the full year. As the ultimate goal, we aim to "grow business profitability" with two pillars: expanding our revenue base and developing new services. Furthermore, we will strive to ``strengthen the foundations for sustainable growth'' as the ``core'' that will bear fruit, and ``maximize the vitality of our human resources and organization'' as the ``roots'' that will support them over the medium to long term.

 We recognize that the next three years will be a major challenge for our group. Under the ``Medium-term Management Plan 2025,'' we are steadily increasing profits even in the changing market environment in order to achieve our 2030 goals of ``sales of 400 billion yen, operating income of 30 billion yen, and number of customers of 5 million.'' As a company that strives to improve its business performance, we will strive to meet the expectations of our stakeholders.

 We would like to ask all of our shareholders and investors for their continued support.

Representative Director and President and CEO
代表取締役社長(CEO) 小栗勝男の署名

 November 2023

*1 LNG strategy: A strategy to expand business areas from local areas such as Shizuoka and the Kanto region to national areas such as all over Japan, and then to global areas such as overseas.

*2 DX: Digital Transformation

*3 ABCIR+S:A strategy for technological innovation of the company group. AI (A), Big Data (B), Cloud (C), IoT (I), Robotics (R), Smart Phone (S), a coined word that connects the initials of each.