The performance of Signed Co., Ltd. <4256>, which provides the cloud-based reservation management system "BeautyMerit" for beauty and hair salons and the centralized reservation management system "Kanzashi", remains strong. For the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2025, the cumulative revenue increased by 15.5% year-on-year to 1,080 million yen, EBITDA rose 40.2% to 298 million yen, and operating profit surged 2.6 times to 136 million yen, achieving significant revenue and profit growth. Revenue has progressed steadily due to an increase in the number of contracted stores (up 16.1% year-on-year to 19,096 stores) including contracts with large chains, while subscription revenue grew by 16.9% compared to the same period last year, and annual recurring revenue (ARR) also increased by 16.5% to exceed 2,000 million yen. The customer churn rate has stabilized at 0.69%, continuing to maintain below 1.0%.

For the fiscal year ending March 2025, revenue is projected to increase by 15.0% compared to the previous period, reaching 2,244 million yen, and EBITDA is expected to rise by 12.5% to 540 million yen, indicating a forecast for increased revenue and profit. Due to the establishment of an efficient lead acquisition system through the strengthening of the organizational structure and partner network, the plan is to achieve 20,000 contracted stores for the fiscal year ending March 2025. While the interim results exceeded expectations, the performance forecast will be maintained, considering the recording of transfer costs associated with the planned relocation of headquarters in the third quarter, which appears to be conservative figures.

The "BeautyMerit" service offered by the company supports the construction of optimal customer experiences (CX) and promotes work style reform (DX) from attracting customers, reservations, treatments, payments, to aftercare. Since the service is provided through the cloud, it can be accessed from anywhere via the internet, aiming to offer a service usable regardless of IT literacy. It is compatible with multiple devices and automates centralized management of reservations from various customer attraction sites, providing services on a subscription (monthly fee) model for a variety of industries such as "hair salons."

In 2023, the company acquired Pacific Porter Co., Ltd., which provided the competing centralized reservation management system "Kanzashi," as a subsidiary. With the group formation of both companies, it has become the largest centralized reservation management service in the beauty and hair salon industry, with almost no competition. As of the end of the fiscal year September 2024, the service has been implemented in 19,096 stores (up 16.1% year-on-year), with the average revenue per user (ARPU) for BeautyMerit being 15,439 yen, and for Kanzashi, it is 4,201 yen, while the customer churn rate (average cancellation rate over the last 12 months) is at 0.69%.

The company aims to achieve consolidated revenue of over 3,000 million yen with a CAGR of over 15% and an EBITDA margin of 20% to 30% from the fiscal year ending March 2025 to the fiscal year ending March 2027 as a medium-term target, focusing on both revenue and profit expansion. These target numbers are for organic growth excluding M&A and new businesses, aiming for growth through the expansion of contracted stores and growth in revenue per contracted store. In the beauty and hair salon industry, approximately 80% of the industry comprises small businesses, and the introduction rate of the company’s services in participating stores on customer attraction sites is 11.9%, while the introduction rate in the beauty and hair salon service market stands at 3.2%, indicating there is still room for expansion in the number of stores.