■ Main Topics of Unirita <3800>

1. "LMIS" won the highest award for 14 consecutive terms at the "ITreview Grid Award".

The service management platform "LMIS", centered around service desk functions, was recognized as an excellent product in terms of satisfaction and awareness in the "Incident Management Tool" and "Help Desk Tool" categories of the "ITreview Grid Award 2024 Summer" hosted by IT Cloud Inc., receiving the highest award of "Leader". Notably, the "Leader" award in the "Incident Management Tool" category has been won for 14 consecutive terms since 2021 Spring.

In the review platform "ITreview" for IT products and cloud play for businesses, excellent products are awarded "Leader" based on customer satisfaction and market awareness from real user reviews, with products having excellent customer satisfaction recognized as "High Performer."

2. Progress in IT services for local governments and public transportation.

In May 2024, the garbage collection industry solution service "GOMIRUTO", jointly developed with Hino Motors Ltd. <7205>, began to be provided to Hayama Town, Kanagawa Prefecture. The aim is to support the efficiency of garbage collection operations and data-driven operational improvements. Additionally, in July 2024, "Community MaaS" was adopted in the significant renewal of the Natori City shared bus "Natorin-go" in Miyagi Prefecture. This supports the digital transformation of regional public transportation, improving user convenience through the introduction of cashless payment and reducing the operational burden of bus services. Entering the second half of the year, the "Co-Creation MaaS Demonstration Project" promoted by Miharu Town, Fukushima Prefecture was also adopted in November 2024. This aims to solve common issues faced by regions, such as promoting the return of driving licenses for elderly drivers and addressing transportation gaps, and is responsible for areas such as "Digitalization of Transportation," "Introduction of New Demand-Responsive Transportation," and "Data Collection and Analysis" in transportation DX.

Involved in a demonstration experiment of a flat-rate shared taxi costing 0.01 million yen per month. Supporting the formulation of optimal dispatch routes based on customer management systems and data. Contributing to the realization of transportation DX in the town, including analysis combining routes like buses and railroads.

3. Initiatives of the newly established Global Strategy Promotion Office.

In executing the medium-term management plan, the company established two new departments in May 2024: "Service Management Headquarters," which promotes the core competence of service & data management, and the "Group Strategy Promotion Office," which creates future value across the group. Especially for the "Group Strategy Promotion Office," efforts are being made towards establishing a "new value offering model" set forth in the medium-term plan, rebranding the group's common strengths, enhancing recognition both internally and externally, creating group ecosystem projects, and optimizing the group value chain from development to sales, consulting, and customer success.

■ Performance Outlook

The company maintains its performance forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2025, expecting an increase in revenue and profit due to a recovery in the second half.

1. Financial estimates for the fiscal year ending March 2025.

Regarding its performance forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2025, the company maintains its initial forecast, projecting revenue of 12,500 million yen, a 4.3% increase over the previous year, operating profit of 1,050 million yen, a 2.6% increase, ordinary profit of 1,190 million yen, a 2.2% increase, and net income attributable to shareholders of the parent company of 850 million yen, a 4.2% increase, indicating growth in revenue and profit.

At the start of the period, it was assumed that the active development of the "cloud play" business would significantly contribute to revenue growth. Overall progress in the first half was slow, but there are expectations for a catch-up due to the recovery of "cloud play" services that were lagging in the first half, the growth of "product services" driven by migration demand, and the recovery of orders for "Professional Services" (SI business). Additionally, the plan is to promote the establishment of a new value offering model integrated across the group (various services), starting from the growing demand in consulting.

In terms of profit and loss, while continuing strategic investments, the expectation is to secure increased profits through the profitability of "cloud play" and enhancing the added value of "Professional Services," without changing the initial assumptions. The policy for strategic investments includes strengthening investment in human capital and renewing the business system infrastructure to enhance the management base.

2. Our Perspective

To achieve the full-year performance, revenue of 6,753 million yen and operating profit of 682 million yen are required for the second half. Although progress in the first half was below expectations, the order environment is favorable, backed by migration demand and the willingness to invest in IT due to digital transformation (particularly the introduction of core areas such as data & service management), and it is believed that sufficient catch-up can occur if improvements are made to the order process, which has been an issue. Therefore, it will be crucial to see how the strengthening of the service provision system and the enhancement of promotions, which have been focused on since the first half, will lead to results. Additionally, for accelerating growth in the next term, attention should be paid to the strengthening of the "cloud play" system (the details of strategic investments and their outcomes).

(Written by Fisco Guest Analyst Ikuo Shibata)