The Japan Steel Works booked ¥170.79bn of orders in the six months to September 2026, up 37.7% on a year earlier, yet recognized sales fell 7.6% to ¥125.31bn, according to its half-year report. Operating profit still edged up 2.0% to ¥12.44bn, and net profit attributable to owners rose 3.6% to ¥10.45bn.
Orders ran ahead of deliveries
In industrial machinery, orders rose 55.7% to ¥139.97bn, led by resin production and processing machinery and electronic devices. Sales in the segment fell 12.0% to ¥100.23bn and operating profit fell 10.7% to ¥9.11bn. The company blamed lower resin machinery sales and a pullback in laser-annealing equipment for flat-panel displays, after shipments were concentrated in the prior-year period.
Two industrial-machinery lines grew on the sales side. Defense-related equipment sales rose to ¥22.52bn from ¥14.57bn, while orders rose to ¥30.58bn from ¥26.77bn. Molding machine sales also rose, to ¥33.78bn from ¥32.56bn. The filing does not say what the defense equipment is or who ordered it.
Power demand shows up in sales, not orders
In metalforming and engineering, orders fell 9.1% to ¥29.81bn, but sales rose 17.9% to ¥24.18bn and operating profit rose 30.7% to ¥4.90bn. The company attributed the sales growth to continuing strong demand linked to power and nuclear.
Cash and an open contingency
Operating cash flow was an outflow of ¥1.09bn, against an inflow of ¥3.05bn a year earlier. The company cited higher working capital from inventory growth. It issued ¥25bn of unsecured bonds in July.
The filing also keeps open a contingency over inspection-data misconduct at its former subsidiary, Japan Steel Works M&E, which it said it cannot reasonably estimate and has not booked. It could include compensation to customers.