Gunosy ＜6047＞ is developing three businesses: a media business that operates “Gunosy” and “AU Service Today”, etc. (60.4% of sales for the 1st quarter of the fiscal year ending 25/5), the Game Eight business (same 37.3%) that operates the game strategy site “Game8,” and an investment business that invests in “Slice,” etc., which provides digital credit services in India. In the media business, content is procured from content partners, services are provided free of charge to users, and revenue is obtained from advertisers by providing advertisement slots, etc. to distribute advertisements to users. The Game 8 business is also centered on advertising revenue from game capture media, and it also provides marketing solutions to companies, such as writing strategy articles for game strategy media and providing advertising policies. Investments in the investment business “Slice” have accumulated investments of 3 billion yen or more since 2019, and they are aiming for growth in digital credit services while credit cards are not popular in India.

Sales for the first quarter of the fiscal year ending 2025/5 fell 16.3% from the same period last year to 1573 million yen, and operating profit and loss landed in surplus of 170 million yen. In the media business, while the business continues to be operated by suppressing advertisement investment based on the state of profitability and uncertainty in advertising market conditions, the number of users remained at the same level as the previous quarter because there was a lot of news with high user interest, such as the Paris Olympics and weather information. Also, there was a reaction in the Game 8 business due to strong sales in the previous quarter, but in addition to the fact that the domestic media solution business continued to be stable, it seems that it continued to maintain high profitability in the overseas business. There also seems to have been a tailwind of the depreciation of the yen in overseas media. In addition, a cost reduction of approximately 140 million yen was realized compared to the previous quarter by organizing business portfolios and improving business operation costs, thereby achieving an operating surplus conversion in the first quarter. Full-year sales are expected to be 6300 million yen, down 14.2% from the previous fiscal year, and operating profit is expected to be 450 million yen, 6.3 times the same period.

The company aims for growth with a total market value of 100 billion yen as a medium- to long-term policy, and aims for operating profit/EBITDA of 900 million yen, ROIC of 15% or more on the business side, and IRR of 30% or more on the investment side for the 2027/5 fiscal year. First, in the existing media business, we will focus on improving the profitability of “Gunosy” and strengthening cooperation with the “AU Service Today” and “News Pass,” which are collaborative applications with KDDI, and promote expansion by maintaining the number of active users. Also, there is little competition in the Game Eight business as a game media boasting the largest number of PVs in Japan. Even though there are no big hit titles, PV has been steady both domestically and overseas, and it has high profitability. In addition to solid domestic growth, there is still room for growth, especially overseas, and in combination with the start of the SC (Store and Commerce) business, the Game 8 business will also contribute as a pillar boosting business results. Furthermore, with regard to the investment business, it has been announced that India's “slice” will be excluded from companies applying the equity method, but with regard to investment, there is no change that it is an important pillar of the group's medium- to long-term growth, and it is a policy to hold it for a long time as before. While the spread of credit cards in India has been delayed, I would like to keep a close eye on the growth of “slice.” Stock prices continue to be sluggish, but in general, as considerable cost reductions have progressed to 0.6 billion yen compared to the same period last year, the sales surplus of Gunosy alone, the strong performance of the Game Eight business, and the future potential of “Slice,” have been shown as a reality, and I would like to keep quite a close eye on future trends of the company, which has reached a turning point in business performance.