NH Foods cut its full-year business profit forecast by 18.0% on 2 November 2026, to ¥50.0bn from ¥61.0bn, while leaving its sales forecast at ¥1.5tn. The revision notice covers the year to March 2027 and is measured against the company's earlier guidance, not against last year.
What moved in the forecast
Pretax profit is now forecast at ¥52.0bn, down 5.5% from the previous guide of ¥55.0bn. Profit attributable to owners of the parent is forecast at ¥35.0bn, down 7.9% from ¥38.0bn. Earnings per share are guided at ¥128.69, against ¥134.56 before, both adjusted for the three-for-one share split effective 1 October 2026.
| Measure | Previous | Revised | Change vs previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | ¥1.5tn | ¥1.5tn | 0.0% |
| Business profit | ¥61.0bn | ¥50.0bn | -18.0% |
| Pretax profit | ¥55.0bn | ¥52.0bn | -5.5% |
| Profit attributable to owners of the parent | ¥38.0bn | ¥35.0bn | -7.9% |
| Basic earnings per share | ¥134.56 | ¥128.69 | n/a |
The cost story
NH Foods says a Middle East situation is pushing up costs across the company. In processed foods, it expects manufacturing costs to rise by more than domestic operations can recover in profit. In meat, it says it is pricing in line with changes in procurement costs, but still expects Australian live cattle prices and feed prices to climb. The notice gives no figure for the Middle East effect.
The first-half presentation puts numbers on the split. The earlier ¥61.0bn business profit forecast drops to ¥50.0bn, with the processed foods division's full-year forecast falling to ¥6.0bn from ¥12.0bn and the meat division's to ¥45.0bn from ¥50.0bn.
Australia is the sharpest pressure point. The presentation says first-half selling prices there were weak after safeguard measures by China and South Korea changed supply and demand, and live cattle prices stayed high partly because of weather. Australian business profit fell ¥6.4bn in the half. The company expects selling prices to recover in the second half, with live cattle prices still elevated.
The half-year baseline
For the six months to 30 September 2026, sales rose 6.5% to ¥769.4bn, but business profit fell 20.7% to ¥28.8bn and profit attributable to owners of the parent fell 25.0% to ¥17.4bn. Business profit in the processed foods division fell 40.1% to ¥1.3bn on higher raw material prices and logistics costs. The meat division's fell 26.8% to ¥20.3bn, which the results summary attributes to Australian live cattle prices, feed costs, labour and logistics.
Dividend: a split, not a cut
The year-end dividend forecast now reads ¥60 per share, against ¥180 before. The company says this restates the earlier amount on the post-split share count and that the effective dividend forecast is unchanged.
The revised full-year figure implies a thinner second half than the first, since the first half already delivered ¥28.8bn of the ¥50.0bn. The company says insurance income from a fire at a consolidated subsidiary partly offset the profit shortfall in its pretax and net forecasts, but not enough to hold them at earlier levels.