Material Group 9M Operating Profit Jumps 56% to ¥1.03 Billion as PR Platform Revenue Quadruples

Material Group, Inc. (TSE: 156A), a Tokyo-based public-relations and marketing communications holding company listed on the TSE Growth market, reported consolidated results for the nine months to May 31, 2026 — the first three quarters of the fiscal year ending August 2026 — under Japanese GAAP. Revenue rose 41.5% to ¥6,662 million, operating profit climbed 55.9% to ¥1,031 million, ordinary profit gained 49.2% to ¥992 million, and net profit attributable to owners of the parent advanced 42.9% to ¥590 million. Basic earnings per share came to ¥61.84, up from ¥42.34 a year earlier. The figures have not been reviewed by the company's auditors.

Segment breakdown: platform and digital do the heavy lifting

The group's largest business, PR Consulting, produced revenue of ¥4,743.9 million (+17.8%) and segment profit of ¥1,095.8 million (+21.3%). Material Inc. kept its PR-staff hiring plan on track and saw solid demand through both agency channels and direct sales, combining repeat orders from existing clients with new wins across a broad set of industries; Rooms Inc. concentrated on new-client acquisition, while Candlewick Inc. added new accounts on top of a steady repeat-order base.

Growth, however, came disproportionately from the two smaller units. Digital Marketing revenue more than doubled, up 115.8% to ¥1,117.3 million, with segment profit up 71.6% to ¥201.8 million, as the group deepened its integration of Bridge Inc., acquired in the prior fiscal year, and expanded digital-first consulting, PR-led ad operations and creative production. PR Platform revenue jumped 320.0% to ¥908.2 million and segment profit rose 265.2% to ¥185.0 million, driven by Trepro Inc. — a TikTok-based recruitment-support business made a wholly owned subsidiary on September 30, 2025 — and by Material Links Inc., a social-commerce operator covering TikTok Shop that was consolidated this period as its materiality increased.

Balance sheet reshaped by acquisitions

The two new consolidated subsidiaries — Material Links and Trepro — transformed the balance sheet. Total assets swelled to ¥6,454 million from ¥3,896 million at the August 2025 year-end, while net assets rose more modestly to ¥2,393 million from ¥2,212 million. As a result the equity ratio fell sharply to 36.1% from 55.4%, with shareholders' equity of ¥2,332 million. Current assets grew ¥593.9 million to ¥3,048.8 million, led by a ¥383.2 million increase in receivables and a ¥175.3 million build in cash and deposits. Shares outstanding stood at 9,877,197, with treasury stock rising to 427,599 from 245,009.

"Switch to Red" and the fourth-pole ambition

Material operates under the corporate vision "Switch to Red," and its medium-term management plan spanning the fiscal years to August 2026 through August 2028 sets out the goal of "becoming the fourth pole of the marketing industry with PR thinking at its core." Management frames public relations as the strategy for being chosen tomorrow and digital marketing as the strategy for being chosen today, and is deliberately fusing the two. Through the first nine months the group continued to hire aggressively and to strengthen project-management systems so each business can scale without eroding delivery quality.

Guidance and dividend held steady

Full-year guidance for the year to August 2026 was left unchanged: revenue of ¥8,964 million (+42.6%), operating profit of ¥1,150 million (+38.2%), ordinary profit of ¥1,037 million (+37.6%) and net profit of ¥612 million (+30.5%), for EPS of ¥63.55. Nine-month operating profit therefore already covers about 90% of the full-year target. The dividend forecast is likewise unchanged at ¥26.10 per share, payable as a year-end distribution only, against ¥26.00 paid for the prior year. The company will webcast an earnings briefing on July 21, 2026, with materials posted to TDnet the same day.

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.