Tsuburaya Fields Holdings, owner of Ultraman-maker Tsuburaya Production and pachinko-machine distributor Fields, posted a rough quarter on paper. Consolidated sales for the three months to June fell 21.3% to ¥43.72bn, and operating profit dropped 11.9% to ¥6.88bn. Net profit attributable to shareholders fell 15.0% to ¥4.74bn. The amusement segment, which sells pachinko and pachislot machines to parlors nationwide, drove the decline: unit sales fell 29.1% to about 67,500 machines as a hit prior-year title's production wound down, pulling segment sales down 22.6% to ¥40.01bn.
Yet management raised its full-year forecast anyway. Content & Digital, the smaller of the two segments, posted operating profit up 227.7% at core unit Tsuburaya Production, on stronger China licensing income and steady domestic merchandising, with segment sales up 5.0% to ¥2.13bn. Products already booked for delivery in the second quarter have sold out, and order intake for the key models due in the third quarter is running extremely strong, though the company stopped short of calling those third-quarter orders sold out too.
| Metric | Previous Forecast | Revised Forecast | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net sales | ¥187.0bn | ¥205.3bn | +9.8% |
| Operating profit | ¥19.0bn | ¥22.5bn | +18.4% |
| Ordinary profit | ¥19.15bn | ¥22.65bn | +18.3% |
| Net profit (parent) | ¥13.5bn | ¥15.0bn | +11.1% |
On the back of that, Tsuburaya Fields lifted its full-year sales forecast 9.8% to ¥205.3bn and operating profit 18.4% to ¥22.5bn, and raised its three-year mid-term plan targets to match. The board also declared a ¥70-per-share special dividend marking Ultraman's 60th anniversary, doubling the annual dividend forecast to ¥140 per share from ¥70.
One number cuts the other way. Quarterly comprehensive income fell 6.2% to ¥4.75bn, a reversal from the 92.9% rise booked in the same quarter a year earlier. The filing does not explain that swing beyond the segment results already disclosed.