Recruit FY26 Operating Profit Jumps 28% to ¥630.6 Billion; FY27 Guidance Sees a Further 25% Climb

Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. (TSE: 6098) reported consolidated full-year results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026 (FY3/2026) under IFRS. Revenue rose 3.9% year-on-year to ¥3,697,351 million, while operating profit jumped 28.5% to ¥630,567 million from ¥490,542 million. Pre-tax profit advanced 22.3% to ¥644,618 million, and net profit attributable to owners of the parent rose 21.6% to ¥496,912 million from ¥408,504 million. Basic EPS came in at ¥349.78 versus ¥271.44, with diluted EPS of ¥347.59. The operating margin widened to 17.1% from 13.8%, ROE attributable to owners of the parent reached 31.0% (up from 22.6%), and total comprehensive income surged 61.0% to ¥616,991 million on currency-translation gains.

EBITDA+S the new headline metric

Recruit re-labelled its preferred profitability gauge this year, renaming "Adjusted EBITDA" to EBITDA+S (the calculation — operating profit plus depreciation and amortization, excluding right-of-use asset depreciation, plus share-based compensation, net of other operating income and expenses — is unchanged). On that basis the group delivered ¥794,390 million (+17.0%), up from ¥678,889 million. The gap between the strong operating-profit growth and the more moderate EBITDA+S growth reflects a smaller swing in non-cash and share-based items year-on-year, with the operating line benefiting from disciplined cost control across the matching businesses.

HR Technology, Matching & Solutions, Staffing

Recruit reports across three segments. HR Technology — anchored by the Indeed and Glassdoor job-matching platforms — remains the group's growth and margin engine, and is the primary driver behind the step-up in consolidated operating profit and the expansion in operating margin. Matching & Solutions, which spans Japan's recruitment-media, marketing-media and SaaS offerings (including the Air Business Tools suite and the HR Solutions and reservation-platform businesses), continued to grow on the back of SaaS monetization. Staffing, the group's global temporary-staffing operation, was reshaped during the year: Recruit added Indeed Recruit Partners Co., Ltd. to the consolidation and deconsolidated RGF Staffing UK Limited, part of an ongoing portfolio realignment toward higher-margin, technology-led matching.

Balance sheet and cash flow

Total assets edged up to ¥2,789,018 million from ¥2,772,252 million, while total equity eased to ¥1,594,558 million as capital returns outpaced retained-earnings accumulation. Equity attributable to owners of the parent was ¥1,583,321 million, leaving the parent equity ratio at 56.8% (from 58.3%), and book value per share rose to ¥1,134.01 from ¥1,102.86. Operating cash flow strengthened to ¥669,431 million from ¥610,363 million; investing activities used ¥61,054 million and financing activities used ¥880,480 million — the large financing outflow reflecting the year's heavy buyback and dividend program. Period-end cash and equivalents stood at ¥725,578 million.

Aggressive buyback shrinks the share count

The standout capital-allocation story was the scale of share repurchases. Shares outstanding (including treasury) fell to 1,472,504,149 from 1,563,912,149 — a reduction of more than 91 million shares, or roughly 6% of the base — while the weighted-average share count dropped to 1,420.6 million from 1,504.9 million. That buyback magnified per-share growth: EPS rose 28.9% even though net profit grew 21.6%. The annual dividend was set at ¥25.00 per share (¥12.00 interim + ¥13.00 year-end), up from ¥24.00, with a consolidated payout ratio of 7.1% and total dividends of ¥36,471 million.

FY27 guidance: double-digit growth across the board

For FY3/2027, management guides to revenue of ¥4,030,000 million (+9.0%), gross profit of ¥2,424,000 million (+10.8%), and EBITDA+S of ¥949,000 million (+19.5%). Operating profit is guided to ¥787,000 million (+24.8%) and net profit attributable to owners to ¥623,000 million (+25.4%), implying basic EPS of ¥447.00 (+27.8%). The group also raised its FY3/2027 dividend forecast to ¥26.00 per share (¥13.00 interim + ¥13.00 year-end), with the payout ratio guided to ease toward 5.8% as earnings outgrow the cash dividend — consistent with Recruit's stated preference for returning capital primarily through buybacks.

JapanStockPulse provides informational content only and does not constitute investment advice. Figures are taken from the company's published earnings short report and may be subject to subsequent revision.