Growth in the right places
Nitto Denko Corporation (TSE: 6988) published consolidated results for the three months to June 30, 2026 on July 28, 2026 under IFRS. Revenue rose 10.3% to ¥271,672 million, operating profit 15.4% to ¥49,210 million, pre-tax profit 14.5% to ¥49,581 million and profit attributable to owners 8.2% to ¥33,872 million. Basic earnings per share were ¥50.75 against ¥45.68 — a faster gain than net profit, because the share count fell after a buyback that lifted treasury stock from 5.0 million to 14.4 million shares. Comprehensive income rose 74.3% to ¥48,752 million.
Two forces are visible in the numbers. The first is demand: the expansion of AI data centres has lifted materials for data centres and semiconductors, and high-end smartphone parts also ran well. The second is currency. The average rate was ¥159.3 to the dollar, 9.3% weaker than a year earlier, and management puts the effect on operating profit at ¥8.7 billion — about 18% of the quarter's operating profit and more than the ¥6.6 billion of year-on-year growth. Read that carefully: without the currency tailwind the operating line would have been broadly flat.
Industrial Tape is where the profit came from
Industrial Tape grew revenue 17.8% to ¥101,076 million and operating profit 64.9% to ¥16,280 million — half the group's total profit gain from a quarter of its revenue. Assembly materials for high-end smartphones gained as electrically peelable battery-fixing tape was adopted on more models, and process materials used in making semiconductor memory and ceramic capacitors grew with AI server demand. General industrial and automotive materials were repriced to cover higher raw-material costs.
Optronics splits in two
Optronics revenue rose just 1.3% to ¥132,199 million and profit fell 3.8% to ¥35,375 million, but the segment average hides two opposite trends. Information fine materials fell 9.9% to ¥89,710 million: optical film demand for in-vehicle displays was firm, but high-end notebook and tablet applications dropped sharply as memory-chip prices pushed customers to cut production. Circuit materials rose 37.0% to ¥42,489 million, with high-precision substrates for high-end smartphones lifted by customer production and a new product launch, and Circuit Integrated Suspension selling strongly into the high-capacity hard drives that generative AI has made data centres want again.
Human Life close to breaking even
Human Life grew revenue 25.6% to ¥40,776 million and cut its operating loss to ¥317 million from ¥1,630 million. Life science rose 49.7% to ¥15,610 million as a large oligonucleotide contract-manufacturing project moved to the commercial stage from the second quarter of last year and as NittoPhase™ nucleic-acid materials followed customers' drugs into global markets. Membranes grew 2.5% to ¥8,807 million on tighter wastewater rules in India and China, and personal-care materials 21.6% to ¥16,358 million on new hygiene products and biodegradable lines. The Other segment, holding pre-commercial products in advanced semiconductors, environmental solutions and medical devices, recorded ¥14 million of revenue and a ¥1,843 million loss.
Guidance raised twice over
Nitto Denko raised both its half-year and full-year forecasts. Full-year revenue goes to ¥1,110,000 million from ¥1,065,000 million (+4.2% versus the previous forecast), operating profit and pre-tax profit both to ¥200,000 million from ¥193,000 million (+3.6%), and net profit attributable to owners to ¥142,000 million from ¥141,000 million (+0.7%), for earnings per share of ¥212.75. Against FY3/2026 actuals — revenue of ¥1,028,171 million and operating profit of ¥183,615 million — that is growth of 8.0% and 8.9%. Half-year revenue guidance rises to ¥564,000 million from ¥527,500 million and half-year operating profit to ¥108,000 million from ¥97,000 million. The reasons given are the same two as above: demand for data-centre, semiconductor and high-end smartphone materials, and a yen weaker than originally assumed. The annual dividend forecast is unchanged at ¥64.00, split ¥32.00 and ¥32.00, against ¥60.00 for FY3/2026.
| Metric | Q1 FY3/2027 | Q1 FY3/2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (¥ million) | 271,672 | 246,192 | +10.3% |
| Operating profit (¥ million) | 49,210 | 42,645 | +15.4% |
| Pre-tax profit (¥ million) | 49,581 | 43,307 | +14.5% |
| Net profit attrib. to owners of parent (¥ million) | 33,872 | 31,303 | +8.2% |
| Comprehensive income (¥ million) | 48,752 | 27,978 | +74.3% |
| EPS (¥) | 50.75 | 45.68 | +11.1% |
| Industrial Tape — revenue (¥ million) | 101,076 | 85,780 | +17.8% |
| Industrial Tape — segment profit (¥ million) | 16,280 | 9,871 | +64.9% |
| Optronics — revenue (¥ million) | 132,199 | 130,541 | +1.3% |
| Optronics — segment profit (¥ million) | 35,375 | 36,755 | -3.8% |
| Human Life — revenue (¥ million) | 40,776 | 32,476 | +25.6% |
| Human Life — segment profit (¥ million) | -317 | -1,630 | loss narrowed |
| Other — revenue (¥ million) | 14 | 3 | +363.9% |
| Other — segment profit (¥ million) | -1,843 | -1,700 | loss widened |
| Total assets (¥ million) | 1,442,604 | 1,441,757 | +0.1% |
| Equity attrib. to owners of parent (¥ million) | 1,147,147 | 1,148,027 | -0.1% |
| Equity ratio | 79.5% | 79.6% | -0.1 pt |
| FY3/2027 guidance — revenue (¥ million) | 1,110,000 | 1,028,171 | +8.0% |
| FY3/2027 guidance — operating profit (¥ million) | 200,000 | 183,615 | +8.9% |
| FY3/2027 guidance — pre-tax profit (¥ million) | 200,000 | 184,976 | +8.1% |
| FY3/2027 guidance — net profit (¥ million) | 142,000 | 133,498 | +6.4% |
| FY3/2027 guidance — EPS (¥) | 212.75 | 197.20 | +7.9% |
| Annual dividend per share (¥) | 64.00 | 60.00 | +6.7% |
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.