Company Overview

2. History

The history of Yamano Holdings <7571> is a series of business developments through bold M&A. In February 1994, the company made its substantial opening by acquiring a subsidiary of Minebea (now MinebeaMitsumi <6479>) that is responsible for door-to-door sales, KANEMORI Co., Ltd. (formerly Kanemori Co., Ltd.). In November 1997, it registered with the Japan Securities Dealers Association and went public. In July 1998, it acquired the business of the Japanese garment company KIMONO KYOTO, a specialized chain store of Japanese clothing, and established a division called "KIMONO KYOTO Division", setting out on expanding the business area through M&A.

Later, in March 2000, it acquired Marumasa Co., Ltd. (a wholesaler of Japanese clothing, jewelry, and clothing), and in May 2001, it acquired Kinu Co., Ltd., Another competitor in the same industry. In October of the same year, it not only made KANEMORI Co., Ltd. a pure holding company but also changed its name to Yamano Holdings Corporation. The business department was inherited by the newly established KANEMORI Co., Ltd. Thereafter, it established Be Gooru Co., Ltd. (specialized chain store of jewelry), Satoda Diamond Chain Co., Ltd. (specialized chain store of jewelry), Horita Sangyo Co., Ltd. (clothing), Powers Corporation Co., Ltd. (specialized chain store of sporting goods), Beauty Tagashi Co., Ltd. (beauty salon chain), Oka Hayashi Co., Ltd. (beauty salon chain), Brother Saving Co., Ltd. (prepaid designated transaction business), etc., and expanded its business areas through acquisitions. Then, KANEMORI, the door-to-door sales business, changed its name to YAMANO Retailings Co., Ltd., the sporting goods business became YAMANO Sports Systems Co., Ltd., the jewelry business became YAMANO Jewelery Systems Co., Ltd., and the beauty business became My Style Co., Ltd., while the door-to-door and event sales businesses were integrated into YAMANO Plaza Co., Ltd. according to each acquired business. During this time, in December 2004, it was newly listed on the JASDAQ Securities Exchange, and in August 2006, changed its name to the current Yamano Holdings Co., Ltd.

~2nd Startup 1st Stage~

From the March 2010 period, it positioned itself as the 2nd startup and aimed to review the direction and concept of its business, improve operational efficiency, improve its financial status through profit and loss improvement, and strengthen the management base. In October 2009, it absorbed and integrated eight group companies (YAMANO Retailings Co., Ltd., KINOHANA Co., Ltd., YAMANO Sports Systems Co., Ltd., Sportsman Club Co., Ltd., YAMANO Plaza Co., Ltd., YAMANO 1909 Plaza Co., Ltd., YAMANO Credit Services Co., Ltd., and YAMANO Investment Co., Ltd.) and moved from a holding company structure to a business unit structure. It continued to improve the efficiency of its unprofitable businesses and implemented a restructuring program. In October 2012, Yamano Jewelery Systems Co., Ltd. was also absorbed and integrated. As a result, the profit structure was improved by the end of the March 2014 period, with a consecutive increase in operating profit for five years and a restoration of dividend payments after seven years. Therefore, it completed the 1st Stage of the 2nd Startup with the end of the March 2014 period and moved into the 2nd Stage, focusing on a large-scale business reorganization.

~2nd Startup 2nd Stage~

As part of the business reorganization, it absorbed the apparel retail stores of Horita Marumasa Co., Ltd. (merged with Marumasa Co., Ltd. in April 2007) into its Japanese clothing-related department and sold its shares in Horita Marumasa Co., Ltd. in May 2017. In the Japanese clothing and jewelry business, it strengthened its business by merging (co. Ltd.) RATANSUYAMANO (Japanese clothing specialty store chain), a newly established subsidiary in April 2013, and merging it into the same company in October of that year. In November 2015, it also made Suzunoki (specialty stores for Japanese clothing and fur items, current subsidiary) a subsidiary. In May 2017, it transferred its sports business to RIZAP Co., Ltd. In the beauty business, it integrated My Style Co., Ltd. into the same company in October 2017. Although it withdrew from the wholesale business and the sports business as part of business reorganization, the scale of its sales decreased to 1.49 billion yen, but its financial structure improved and its management base was strengthened. Therefore, it completed the 2nd Stage with the end of the March 2018 period and entered the 3rd Stage, aiming to continue M&A in its existing businesses, as well as expanding into new business areas through M&A.

~2nd Startup 3rd Stage~

In the existing beauty business, (co. Ltd.) Miyaura (nail salon operations, renamed to MIURA Co., Ltd. after acquisition) in July 2018, and LBG Co., Ltd. in October 2019 were made into subsidiaries. After that, in October 2022, the beauty business of the same company that had absorbed My Style and the sales department of Miura's beauty business were transferred to LBG Co., Ltd., consolidating its beauty business. As a result, the company's name was changed to YAMANO Plus Co., Ltd. In the Japanese clothing and jewelry business, it received part of the business of KanoKono Co., Ltd. (Japanese clothing business) in November 2019.

As a new business, in March 2020, we entered the education industry by subsuming the one-on-one academy (learning institution operation) as a subsidiary. Later, in May 2022, we continued to subsume Tokyo Guidance (learning institution operation), a franchise store business of School IE, which is the same as the one-on-one academy, and in December 2023, we also subsumed Tomonkai Learning Institute (learning institution operation), another franchise store business of the same School IE. In addition, we subsumed OLD FLIP (purchase and sale of used clothing) as a subsidiary in June 2022.

We transferred from JASDAQ Standard to the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard Market in April 2022.

Although business expansion moved smoothly into the 3rd stage, the company's business, which operates in multiple stores, was greatly affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales revenue fell to JPY 12.701 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2021, but has been recovering since the fiscal year ending March 2022. Net income attributable to the parent company's shareholders fell to JPY 3 million in the fiscal year ending March 2020, and a loss of JPY 324 million was incurred in the fiscal year ending March 2021 due to the impairment of operating assets of store operations, impairment of the L.G.B. and Miura's name plates, as the end of the COVID-19 pandemic was uncertain. Therefore, there was no dividend for two consecutive years, but dividends were paid in the fiscal year ending in March 2022 and 2023 due to the recovery of performance. In the fiscal year ending March 2024, a special loss was recorded due to the deterioration of performance of OLD FLIP caused by changes in consumer mindset after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in rent, resulting in a net loss attributable to the parent company's shareholders and no dividend was paid.

(Author: FISCO Guest Analyst Shuji Matsumoto)