Osaka Organic Chemical Industry's push into advanced semiconductor materials is outrunning its other businesses. The Osaka-based specialty chemicals maker said interim operating profit for the six months to May 2026 rose 51.4% year-on-year to ¥4.42bn, on sales up 15.1% to ¥20.03bn.
The driver was its electronic materials segment, where sales rose 23.9% to ¥9.69bn and segment profit jumped 68.4% to ¥2.19bn. The company said sales of its core ArF photoresist raw materials stayed firm while shipments of leading-edge EUV photoresist ingredients, used to pattern the smallest chip features, increased sharply.
| Segment | Sales | YoY change | Operating profit | YoY change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical products | ¥6.68bn | +2.4% | ¥1.27bn | +26.9% |
| Electronic materials | ¥9.69bn | +23.9% | ¥2.19bn | +68.4% |
| Functional chemicals | ¥3.67bn | +20.0% | ¥0.99bn | +60.4% |
The chemical products and functional chemicals units also grew, but off a smaller base: chemical products' segment profit rose 26.9% to ¥1.27bn and functional chemicals' profit rose 60.4% to ¥0.99bn.
Osaka Organic left its full-year guidance unchanged: sales of ¥39.0bn (+7.5%) and operating profit of ¥7.5bn (+21.2%) for the year to November 2026.
During the half, the company signed a capital and business alliance with Sanpo Chemical Laboratories, a Sakai-based maker of semiconductor and display materials. The two companies said they would combine their high-purity processing technology to broaden their joint photoresist material lineup and strengthen proposals to chipmakers. Separately, Osaka Organic is building a new semiconductor-materials facility at its Sakata plant, budgeted at more than ¥10bn, with construction due to start this year and finish in 2028.